QPR v Middlesbrough

A thrashing 

 

Gladiator 2

 Yes, they didn't need to make a sequel  It is notable the Derek Jacobi spends his last moments in this film looking confused before he died. 

It starts with Romans or really North Africans with clothes pegs and goes downhill from there. There are Great White Sharks in the arena. We hear a lot of names, Caracalla and Geta- who seem based on Edward 2 and his lover in Braveheart. Jurgatha and Numidia, Thrax but these are not the historical characters. There are constant scenes of archers using bows like rifles There are constant hydrocarbon created fires. 

Thrax seems to spend his time hanging out in bar- does Geta has syphilis ? People keep saying vae victis, some one has tamed a rhino. 

This should be forgotten in another time it would have been straight to video

Pedro Pascal probably thought the St Sebastain death was subversive 

The Housemaid

 Sidney Sweeney is so very pretty. I liked watching her. It is amazing how she can play dowdy. She seems to be able to change her entire body language. 

 I  have liked  Amanda Seinfeld since Mean Girls . I was pleased to see her again. 

 I had forgotten I had seen this film until I saw it, in my history on VLC. So unlike in my usual posts where I post my thoughts without having seen a review. This is perhaps a more considered version

The film is apparently becoming a franchise

What I remember about this film 

The husband seems to be a mesh of one Hemsworth brothers, and Chris Evans. I see 5 O Clock shadow is now de rigeur in Hollywood

Everyone played two parts in this film. This is a mild spoiler, everyone is playing an insane and vanila version of their character. So well done 

The film is set nowhere in particular. A white exurban house, gated community. It could be Wisteria avenue. I did wonder about how safe a house with three floors of nearly unprotected staircase would be safe for a child

I don't think Sidney Sweeney would be left unmolested sleeping rough

Grosse Point Blank

 Speaking of forgotten movies. I read the review of this in Loaded magazine. John Cusack is now more likely to be ranting on X or bluesky than headling a film,

I was never really keen on Minnie Driver 

I am surprised this has been forgotten or not revived as a piece of 90s nostalgia

John Cusack leads as a hitman, who skipped out on his prom 10 years ago- leaving a girl behind in Detroit The fact that Detroit is even a location for a film, is nostalgia. From a location in Magnum P.I , to Home Improvement, to memes about forgotten cities Detroit  is one place that vanished from Hollywood's radar

How old are Martin's parents? We see the mother in an old folks home, but if she had him at 38 she's just 66.  Can a high school furnace burn a body?

Hey that's Hank Azaria- Homer Simpson and Mr Trick from Buffy- did I tell you 1990s this was.

I might sound terribly sexist here, but I think the music loving gf- is a 1990 trope

So, Cusack is seeing a therapist. This film predates the Sopranos, and indeed prempts it. Martin Blanc terrifies his therapist. Who unlike Lorraine Branco He actually tries to stop him from commiting crimes, and mayhem

Grocer- Dan Akyroid quotes the bible while trying to kill Cusack- Ala Pulp Fiction. Also one of the mooks is wearing leisurewear

I wonder if this film was slightly ahead of it's time. If it had come out a decade later- when at least Britain was in the height of the school reunion social media phase then, perhaps it would have had a better audience. I enjoyed it- I would'nt object to seeing it remade or rebooted though

Bonnie and Clyde

 Yes I can understand why this has been forgotten somewhat. It looks great, Faye Dunaway is one of the most beautiful women who ever lived. Warren Beaty is dapper and dashing-but whose idea was to make the lead impotent?

It feels like the Dukes of Hazard, more of that later. It is two people driving about dodging the law.   I think the film doesn't do enough with it's historical setting you see a white farmer, and his black labourer taking one long look at a farm before being evicted. You would'nt know that prohibtion has happened. Though that ends off screen. We see the moving pictures, and an armoured car...

Gene Hackman and Gene Wilder have roles. Wilder stars as a passer by caught up in the gang's misadventures, Hackman is the older brother of Clyde. Which I wondered about, would Hackman really take orders from Beatty in real life

Miri, Michael Pollard stars- hey who remembers Hannibal Brooks, but that is it. The film is well shot, the cast are strong but fundamentally this didn't grab me 

Oh they drink Dr Pepper nice!

Galaxy Quest

 I am so sorry I missed this in cinemas. It would have hit much harder in the 1990s. It even seems to be referencing Deep Space Nine, with the action in the mine field. 

Tim Allen plays Bill Shatner- play Kirk in the wilderness years. Going to conventions, hogging the spotlight

Alan Rickman is good as the Mr Spock figure, who will only be remembered for a few cod lines of dialog 

The Aliens are played completely straight, and voiced brilliantly. This really helps sell it

This must be one of the first films to note an online space. The plot is resolved by having teen Quest fans, describe the layout of the ship. They are comunicating via chat rooms or mailing lists - I wonder if they would be allowed to gather a lot of fireworks so quickly

A Chump in Oxford

 So, I noticed Peter Cushing is in the credits here. As an Oxford University Student

This is a Laurel and Hardy film- I decided to give a whirl. It is brief, just under an hour, and is a series of sketches linked together. There is a lot of slapstick. Indeed, a chump feels like an episode of scooby do, there is a chase scene with a ghost in a garden. There are fake hands scenes. People talk with the antagonist behind them.. oh and someone loses his memory 

Stan Laurel really did have range. We see him play two characters, Lord Paddington and Stan

Oliver Hardy breaks the 4th wall, complaining about a double chin remark. As the titles break

Oliver is a huge man, when he strikes Stan it must hurt 

The opening skit where Stan and Olly try to blag themselves as a job as a butler and a maid, is good. I can see why people loved this. I think reworked slightly this would still work today