Let's start catching up with what I've seen recently.

The Odyssey

A retelling of Homer's story by Christopher Nolan. Starring (deep breath!) Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, John Leguizamo, Himesh Patel, John Benthal, Lupita Nyong'o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Charlise Theron, Elliot Page...  and so many more I forget!

The film covers various events from the Trojan Horse to events in Odyseus' (Damon) journey home and the many fantastical events he encounters. Meanwhile, Penelope (Hathaway) hides away from the many suitors (led by Pattinson's devious Antinous) who would have her choose one to replace Odyseus who has been away for 20 years. Her som Telemachus (Holland) does his best to protect her and find word of his father's return.

Full disclosure; I'm not familiar with Homer's work beyond what has previously appeared in popular culture. What I do know though is that this film is effing amazing! The practical effects (because Nolan uses as little CGI as possible) really work well, I doubt any of the set-pieces (Trojan horse/Troy, cyclops, the giants, the witch etc) would have been better with computer effects. I'm not surprised it's 2 hours 52 minutes in length, but there is very little "filler*, maybe a couple of slower moments between action sequences could have been trimmed.

The only drawback about the film -- and it is a minor one -- is that Tom Holland perhaps wasn't the best casting as Telemachus, while not actually bad he perhaps doesn't have the gravitas for the role.

People seem to like the film, it's the highest grossing R rated film and far and away Nolan's highest grossing film, it's currently at $1.7 billion. 9.5/10



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Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Talking of Tom Holland, here we have the actors 4th outing as the arachnid super hero. The cast again includes Zendaya and John Bernthal along with Mark Ruffalo, Jacob Batalon, Sadie Sink, Liza Colón-Zayas, Florence Pugh and Marisa Tomei.

After Spider-Man (Holland) gets Dr Strange to wipe everyone's memory of him in the previous film, we start with a reclusive Peter Parker fighting crime with no friends and few contacts. MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Batalon) are obsessed with Spider-Man but do not remember that he was once their friend. When a new threat enters the city with strange powers that can control peoples minds, Parker finds he is muting into an actual spider and needs to contact Bruce Banner (Ruffalo) about controlling the change, all the time trying to work out what the new threat to the city might be.

I've never been a huge fan of the Spider-Man character but I do like this film, this is where Tom Holland shines, he was the perfact age when he took the role (Captain America: Civil War in 2016), and has aged as the character has aged. This film has links to the wider Marvel Universe bringing in a well known X-Men mutant (Sadie Sink as Jean Grey) as well as the Hulk. He has at least one more film as S-M to come.

Again people seem to like the film as it has hit $2.45 billion and is now the 3rd highest grossing film of all time... I don't think it's *that* good, but good nonetheless. 8/10

The concert film of the Back to the Beginning show is finally being released in theatres world wide. I *think* it is a 1-day only release on Wednesday Oct 28th. Might have to go if there's shows at a cionvenient time.

Beam

Mobility

Putter

Cock

I've got a bunch of better films I need to review... but I thought I'd start with...
 
Alarum - 2025

Or, "Mission Alarum" as it's known in the UK! An action film set in Slovakia starring Scott Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, Willa Fitzgerald, Mike Colter and Isis Valverde.

From IMDb: After the CIA discovers the whereabouts of two rogue spies, who have not only gone off-grid but have become husband and wife (Eastwood and - I think - Fitzgerald!), all hell is unleashed on their winter honeymoon cabin resort in the woods by a consortium of international spy organizations who are after a 'flight pill', aka a hard drive, and all of whom suspect the two may have joined a network of rogue spies known as the Alarum.

This is B-movie at it's cheesiest... a sub par Expendables! It was nominated for 3 Razzies, but I think it was in the wrong categories. Eastwood, Stallone and Valverde got worst acting nominations, but while not great they certainly weren't *that* bad. The clear crime here was the script, production design and editing/direction! It was vaguely fun for its thankfully short runtime. 4/10

I think the heatwave has broken... very wet and windy today.