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.