Review: The Rise of Skywalker

Finally, we reach the end of the main Star Wars saga. The story is hokey, but the main cast performances are significantly better than previously and the production design (particularly of the destroyed death star) looks fantastic.

Ridley, Issac and Boyega work much better as a team now and there's the beginnings of some great chemistry. In a way, it's a shame we'll never see them in action again. If we do, hopefully we won't have to wait 30+ years.

Abrahm's reveals what a pragmatic master filmmaker he is.  The result is unremarkable as a film, but there are so many threads to tie up, characters to be given their moment to shine and fan service to tip the hat to - it's amazing it works as well as it does. It's a broadly satisfying conclusion to a nine film series with some already wonky entries.

Verdict: It's no The Force Awakes or The Last Jedi - and that's OK. 

Review: Invasion of the Body Snatchers

It's been a long time since I last watched this thrillingly creepy childhood favourite. 

It's lost little of its power in the intervening years - thanks in part to it being a tightly told story with practical special effects which are suggestive and sparse.  McCathy's committed performance as a small town doctor who notices something is going badly wrong with his home city also helps a lot.

Verdict: Classic sci-fi chiller

Review: Hustlers

On one level, Hustlers is a heist movie and plays out very much like one. Told in flashback, the first act sets the scene, the second reveals the scam and the last the consequences.

Lopez is excellent in this - managing to create a character which combines charisma with pragmatism.  While, she's clearly the star - the other female performances are really strong too.   Even the small parts, like that of Wu's character's grandma make an impact. Amusingly, and in contrast to many a male led crime caper - none of the men come off particularly well or even three-dimensional.

Morally, the simplest thing to say is that it's complicated.  Interestingly, it doesn't push you in any particular direction.

Verdict: At times, funny and never less than fascinating view of a true life con.

Review: Angel has fallen

Butler returns for the third instalment of the "Fallen" series.  This time the plot revolves around a presidential assassination attempt and subsequent framing of Butler's character, Banning.

To add to the mix, Banning has been struggling with migraines and other medical problems picked up during his career. I rather liked this aspect as it's rare for a movie to show a character's arc like this. Usually, they carry on until they can no longer bring in the box office numbers.

The assassination attempt is quite inventively done, but the film then settles into a fairly run of the mill action thriller. There were times where I felt I was getting flashbacks to the Jack Ryan TV series.  Disappointingly, you'll likely spot the bad 'uns early on, but Nolte's character brings some much needed fun to the production.

Overall: Better than the London instalment, but let's call it done now. 

Review: Togo

Togo is an early Disney+ offering and this quietly epic film feels just right for the streaming service.  I'm a sucker for hero dog stories so as soon as I saw the trailer, I knew I had to give it a watch.  Being based on a little known true story only helped seal the deal.

Dafoe is suitably craggy as the sledge driver and Nicholson provides great support as his wife and believer in the worth of Togo as a pup.  The landscape is absolutely stunning - and nicely contrasted (summer when Togo is a pup and winter for the main body of the tale).

Verdict: A true shaggy dog story.

Review: Artemis

Artemis, Weir's follow up to The Martian skirts "difficult second album" territory.  It's a decent fast-paced read as before, but is softer on the science, Jaz's inner dialogue is nowhere near as compelling or convincing as the titular martian and neither is the key conceit - which is closer to conspiracy rather than cock-up.

Fair play to Weir for attempting to create a central character who is pretty the polar opposite of Watney (and likely himself), but it doesn't wholly succeed. It doesn't help that Jaz is close to being a classic Mary Sue - super-smart - academic and street, has practical engineering skills, friends in high and low places, able to tackle foes who are much bigger, stronger and experienced than her etc.  But somehow she didn't convince as a young woman.

Artemis - the moon city base itself - is quite a good example of building a realistic world as is the analysis of the emerging politics.

It's by no means a terrible book, it just feels like curiously old fashioned sci-fi - weakly drawn characters used to present some interesting ideas.

In a nutshell: Watney was from Mars alright, I'm not sure Jaz is from Venus (or the Moon). 

Review: Joker

Phoenix is excellent at capturing the Joker's transition from hapless schmuck to ascendent criminal mastermind.  Of note also are Beetz who gives a naturalistic performance as his love interest and De Niro's subtly sneering talk show host.   It's an impressionistic watch seeding just enough to fill in the gaps of Fleck's past and present insanity.

The overlapping story with the Wayne family was a touch on the nose for me.

Well made though it is, I can't see myself returning to it.  It's less uplifting than the comparable V for Vendetta and lacks the engaging central character of Taxi Driver - another possible source of inspiration.  But ultimately the Joker is just too toxic a personality to want to spend too much time with.

Verdict: Grim and grimy interpretation of the Joker's origins.  

Review: Fast and Furious: Hobbs & Shaw

The charismatic Johnson and surly Statham team up in this spin off from the main series. The convoluted plot involves both of them somewhat unconvincingly separately and then collectively pursuing a McGuffin also being chased down by Elba's terminator-a-like and assisted by the capable Kirby.  But the whole thing is just a frame for the three of them to indulge in lots of fighting and occasional car based stunt.

One thing that baffles me out of this series is considering how much money they make the entries within it invariably feel a bit cheap.  At least some of the CGI always looks a bit off, a few of the action sequences a little muddled, the script lacking the wit and delivery of Bond and the acting flat (especially from the two leads). But somehow they chuck enough at the wall during the over long running time that at some of it works.

Verdict: Fun & Flawed

Review: First of the few

Inspired by the recent discovery of Public Service Broadcasting's Spitfire track:

I decided to give the original film from which it is sampled a go - and I'm glad I did. After a slow propaganda heavy start, it became a compelling story of innovation and one man's dedication to aircraft design.  Niven and Howard are well drawn character-wise, but some of the others are bit thin.

Verdict:  If you can get past the limitations of a wartime propaganda drama, this is a little gem. 

Review: Men in Black International

The original Men in Black charmed because of its quirky humour, witty script, intriguing glimpses at a well rounded universe and the odd couple at the centre of it. Men in Black 2 - I can't even remember. But MiB3 injected some new twists and felt like a revival of the magic.

So we come to the number four in the franchise. This time it's the turn of a new duo and they go global trotting in search of various bad guys and a gizmo to save the world. Thompson and Hemsworth have undoubted chemistry, but the script lacks spark and jeopardy which contributes to a feeling of we've seen it all before.

Verdict: The trusty formula is wearing thin.

Review: Life Drawing: A Life Under Lights

For most Doctor Who fans, Martin's iconic performance as a werewolf in the late 80s, is probably the primary attraction for reading this autobiographical graphic novel.  They hopefully won't be too disappointed as there are a solid couple of pages dealing with her work on Who and relationship with John Nathan-Turner.

As a rattle through Martin's career in TV and on stage (a lot of which I didn't know due to being just a little too young) it does the job and there are hints at her tenacious and methodical character. There are also some genuinely moving elements, such as her blossoming relationship with her current partner and various reunions.  But I felt occasionally, I'd have liked to know more ie what does a performer do when the calls stop coming and I'd have appreciated more insight into the actual work of acting.  But it does end on a more satisfying note as she draws parallels with the impact of her mother on her life and developing a new set of creative skills.

Verdict: Depth of insights limited by the format perhaps. 

Review: To reach the clouds

Petit's book is a fever dream of one man's five plus year obsession with wire walking between the WTC twin towers and - spoiler alert - achieving it.  He's an extraordinary and likely very difficult individual and he manages to fully capture his essence in his prose.

Probably the most fascinating elements of the narrative as those relating to social engineering.

Verdict: Highly recommended. 

Review: The summer we all ran away

Parkin's time jumping story is a decently told mystery centred on a manor house and its occupants - and had I not been given it, I doubt I would have chosen it as it probably veers towards chick-lit.  As it is she did just enough to keep me reading in ever greater chunks after initially struggling to settle into it.

Verdict: Light concise prose with a Gatsby-sque feel. 

Review: Peterloo

Weighing in at well over two hours, there should have plenty of time to tell this important milestone in the history of suffrage in a engaging way. Instead, director Leigh chooses to extend too many scenes beyond their natural length to fill out the running time and populate it with two dimensional, often declamatory, caricatures. There's one positive in all of the speechifying - it does serve to illustrate just how much biblical language influenced the timbre and content of the written and spoken word at the time.

Verdict: Overlong and strangely lacking historical drama

Review: Top Gun

The recent release of the trailer for the sequel to this 80s piece of nostalgia reminded me that I couldn't recall seeing the original.  Putting his weird beliefs and private life aside, I also find Cruise a very watchable screen presence so I thought it was time to remedy this gap in my knowledge of his filmography.

In Top Gun, the jets and other military hardware compete with the star qualities of Cruise, Kilmer and McGillis and the humans only just about come out ahead.  Director Scott certainly knows how to get the most out of both which in combination with an iconic soundtrack crystallises into a perfect drop of 80s filmmaking.

Verdict:   Breathtaking planes and 80s manes do battle.

Review: What we left behind: Looking back at Deep Space Nine

I was tidying my office last night and thought I'd have this on in the background while I did so. It was a bit of an odd choice as I count myself as nothing more than a casual Star Trek fan. I've watched most of the Next Generation, up to half of Enterprise, a dozen or so episodes of the original series and erm...just a smattering of episodes of Deep Space Nine.

Led by showrunner, Behr, this is a good overview and review of the series covering production elements such as casting and recasting, script writing (including a rather wonderful realisation of what an opening episode of a notional series 8 might look like), on-set dynamics etc.   It does occasionally get repetitive (we get that makeup was lengthy), but remains interesting rather than fascinating and revelatory throughout.

Has it persuaded me to actually revisit series myself? Yes, perhaps - I still have the boxset sitting on top of bookcase...

Verdict: Respectful review of somewhat sidelined Trek. 

Review: An Angel for May

Charming kid's time-travelling film which is very reminiscent of the output of the Children's Foundation.  Naturalistic performances, gentle plotting and strong characterisation help anchor the fantasy.

Be warned, the Prime video copy looks pretty dreadful with burned in "This is the property of..." messages occasionally appearing which makes you wonder where on Earth Amazon sourced it.

Verdict:   Can't fault this British made-for-TV fantasy film. 

Review: This book could help:The Men's Head space manual

No-nonsense and useful guide for blokes to take some early steps to improve their mental health and resilience. It's unlikely to turn around a deep depression, but there's plenty of useful tips and tools to help prevent negative thoughts spiralling down.

It helps from a credibility point of view that the book is produced with the blessing of Mind.

Verdict: A good introduction to getting a little mind space. 

Review: Captain Marvel

For the nth entry in the Marvel film universe, yet another origin story for an eccentrically costumed character shouldn't be this involving - but this tale of amnesia,  loyalty switching and beginnings (in more way than one) is surprisingly good.  The nuggets of 90s nostalgia help as does being given a first person view of the sheer bafflement of the titular character as they try to piece together their past.

Jackson provides great support as a younger pre-Avengers Nick Fury.  Both are upstaged by Goose the cat who doesn't get much screen time, but has some memorable appearances.

Now her backstory is established, I hope Larson's Captain Marvel is given a bit more depth in subsequent outings. She's undoubtably a woman of action with a touch of snark, but I'm hoping for more in future films.

Verdict: Be warned, you may never look at your cat in the same way again!

Review: How to train your dragon: The hidden world

How to train your dragon has always had a problem in that the entries in the film series have always been a little too far apart for me to be able to rely on my memory of what happened before.  It hasn't proved to be too much of a problem because the charm and story has swiftly pulled me back into the world of Toothless and Hiccup.

Unfortunately, How to train your dragon 3 somehow failed to draw me in this time. It looks absolutely gorgeous and the story of Toothless finding love should have carried real emotional weight - but the plot is weak and the antagonist never really adds sufficient jeopardy.  The whole film is the equivalent of strolling around familiar streets with an old friend as an adult rather than going on a childhood adventure.

I hadn't expect to enjoy the first movie in the series, but was completely enchanted by it. Here the reverse is true; I did expect to love this return to the world of dragons and humans - but I was bored by it.

Verdict: Beautiful looking finale which lacks something.

Review: Frankissstein

Winterson's latest book is a witty meditation on the nature of love remixed through the classic novel Frankenstein and modern day concerns like transhumanism, AI and gender.  Anyone familiar with those fields will probably find themselves nodding their heads at the relevant bits while coming away feeling slightly disappointed at the depth of exploration.

"The mad are actors on a different stage"

- Frankissstein 

But perhaps that's not really the point - there's a strong sense of history, if not quite repeating then rhyming and Winterson's ability to weave romantic voices with more modern cynical ones is indicative of her gift.

She also samples from a wide range of cultural influences - I think I even spotted a sly Terminator reference in there.

Verdict: Sometimes, dreamy, sometimes down-to-earth, exploration of love in the time of artificial intelligence. 

Review: Christopher Robin

Sadly, for a film about rediscovering your childhood this didn't quite hit the spot for me although it did come very close at times.  Some of the toys, and especially Pooh's, Tigger's and Eeyore's sounded and looked wrong to my imagination.  I could have done with more Terry Gilliam like flights of fantasy in it.

More successful was McGregor's melancholic portrayal of an older Christopher Robin who is sinking under the weight of his adult responsibilities and especially the pressures of work.  The toy's dialogue felt right too, and for all of my problems with their realisation - their character animation is excellent. 

Lastly, I also came away with a new appreciation for the mindful wisdom of Pooh:

"Today is my favourite day."
"Doing nothing sometimes leads to the very best kind of something."
"What day is it? It is today Pooh. Oh I like that. Yesterday when it was tomorrow, it was too much day."
"People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day".
"I know I don't need one, but I'd like one very very much please"
"Any day spent with you is my favourite day. So, today is my new favourite day."

Verdict:  Quotable script slightly lost in translation via casting to the screen. 

Review: The Great Wall

Cheesy Chinese/Hollywood fusion with added Matt Damon.  Plot, script, CGI and characterisation are purely functional and in service to some wonderfully richly coloured costuming and military set pieces.  This isn't high art, but it was a lot of fun to watch on a Friday night and a few scenes (especially those featuring stained glass windows) look absolutely wonderful in 4K HDR such is the vibrancy of their colour.

Verdict: Not quite as bonkers as hoped, but a wonderful spectacle at times.

Review: The Road to Character

What a confusing meandering read this is at times, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try as there are some genuinely valuable insights in here.  The premise is quite a simple one, take two versions of ourselves:

• Adam I: our CV e.g., our external accomplishments
• Adam II: Our eulogy i.e., how people will talk about us after our deaths

and decide which you should prioritise the development of. Brooks' thesis is that we've lost sight of Adam II which is essentially about character and should give it higher priority than we currently do.  Each subsequent chapter looks at qualities like Love, Humility, Self-examination, Dignity etc through the lens of an array of historical characters (with a strong tilt towards Anglo-American examples).

By the end I was mostly persuaded by his thesis and found some historical figures more relevant than others (Johnson and Elliot in particular hit the spot).  Others simply didn't work for me at all. The entire chapter on dignity, for example.  A few like the chapter covering Augustine provided a fascinating insight to the religious mind  and how self examination can lead to an amplification of belief and dedication to God.  But that, and the regular mentions of sin throughout meant this was never going to be a home run for this atheist. It is an unashamedly Christian framework which underlies his thinking.

He's on stronger ground when describing how humanity's way of looking at themselves over the last few hundred years has changed.

The last chapter gives some pointers on what to do to build character and this is one of the more frustrating parts of the book as it feels more than a little confused.

Despite all of these problems, I came away feeling my copious notes are not quite up to the job and could imagine myself dipping into this from time to time.


Verdict: A perfect mid-life crisis book: a bit muddled but potential nuggets of inspiration.

Review: The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar

This collection of around half a dozen short stories is a glimpse into the fact and fiction of renowned author, Dahl, and sampled from across his career.

 There's a sprinkling of outright fantasy, dark twistedness, nauseating unpleasantness and even near-unbelievable true stories in this mix.  His adult prose is every bit as evocative and economical as his children's works.  There's no duff stories in this volume, but the standouts are probably the inception like Henry Sugar, horrific Swan and tragic The Boy Who Talked to Animals. 

Verdict: I still admire Dahl's craftsmanship, but like gory horror films, I no longer love to watch some bits.

Review: Man on Fire

Hyperkinetic editing makes this Scott helmed thriller a difficult watch at times.  That's a pity, because underneath the focus shifting, grade manipulation and fast cutting, there's a decent revenge story grounded by some fine acting and lovely chemistry between Washington and Fanning.

Verdict: Attempted drowning of substance by style

Review: On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Snyder's slim volume is a Ronseal type book - it does what it says on the cover, no more, no less.  Each lesson is prefixed by a short directive, and an expanded summary of its meaning.  Students of the second World War will find much that is familiar here - but the book also draws upon examples from Soviet Russia.  It would have been great to see a much broader palette of examples from other historical and current regimes.

I was interested to see how lawyers willing became tools of the Nazi state - perhaps in part because of their fascination with the law, even a creeping corrupted version of it.

With its frequent references to "the president", it's clear the book has Trump in its sights and the US public as its audience.

It's possible to pick the occasional fault too. I don't know that I'm quite so enamoured by print journalists as Snyder obviously is.  Nor am I quite so convinced about the email exchanges of politicians being comparable to what happens when models are getting changed or sportspeople showering in locker rooms (ie they should remain private).  Sportspeople and models don't generally hold themselves as guardians of public morals.

But perhaps I'm being a little churlish. In a world, where books frequently spend too long to get to the meat - and that meat is often pretty thinly sliced - a short summary is greatly appreciated.

Verdict: A good field guide for tyranny spotters everywhere. 

Review: The Time Traveller's Guide to Restoration Britain

I've really enjoyed Mortimer's previous guides to medieval and Elizabethan times, but struggled rather more with this volume in the series.  It has taken me months to finish it.

I'm not quite sure why as Mortimer's dry wit is still much in evidence. Perhaps it's because there's still plenty that's recognisable from those earlier books (the plague together with poor sanitation and cruel and unusual punishments still feature heavily) as well as the faintest glimmers of what is modern life.

For example, you can see the essential elements, namely a small shift from the supernatural to a science based way of looking at the world, improvements in transport and greater availability of knowledge, of what will become the industrial revolution slowly slotting into place.  But blimey, progress feels glacial.  At the time, it must have felt dizzyingly fast though - at least in the larger cities, like London.

Verdict: Same, but different. 

Review: Gaslighting: How to recognise manipulative and emotionally abusive people ....and break free

Dr Sarkis' short book is an excellent introduction in how to identify gaslighters in your working and home relationships and steps you can take to mitigate their impact.  On the downside, it is very much US centric so many of the suggested resources and relevant legislation will need localising by the reader.  And if you are being gaslit in the workplace, the only satisfactory option may be to leave.

Particularly strong is the chapter on how to break free and heal from gaslighting experiences with its overview of the different approaches to psychological support.  Some of them were familiar - eg self-talk - although there were a few nice tweaks eg giving negative self-talk silly voices. I also found value in the section on building distress tolerance:

• Finding alternative activities while are not emotion filled
• Pushing away, for example, feelings of uselessness through visualising competence. 
• Acting the opposite to you are feeling. 

On a related note, I recently came across another useful mindfulness technique via the Tim Ferriss podcast - namely noting thoughts and feelings with the phrase "welcome to the party" as though you were the genial host. 

Verdict: While this book won't (hopefully) relevant to all readers, it is a good starting place.