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

Marty Supreme

 Well a Table Tennis movie... interesting 

Watching this I was reminded of my friend- the late Scott Palter. Who would have been the same age as Marty, and was raised in the same New York Jewish milleu. We meet the old Jewish gangster class, the policeman, and the up and coming money men. 

Isn't keeping ping pong balls in your house a terrible fire hazard.

I see Sandra Bernhardt stars in this film

G, Paltrow stars as Marty's older lover interest. I think she looks and aquits herself well

It is a great physically demanding perfomance by Timothy C. Grunting and falling, and sweating across the set. He is manipulating every other person he meets. Telling lies, upon lies I liked how he turned his young love interest into a mini Marty 

I felt that it got the period detail of London well. I can't speak about 1960s Japan. It felt real. I did wonder if Japan here was a short hand for China. 

I liked the theme music.. Forever Young, Every Body Wants to Rule the World. 

But that Vampire line. What happened there? It did pique my interest..I have to admit. Was Marty having a pyschotic break? Was it all a fever dream?

The Baby was beautiful 

My daughters birthday party