Monday, March 18, 2024

My Review of Madame Web (2024)

 


Written by Kerem Sanga And Matt Sazama And Burke Sharpless And S.J. Clarkson And Claire Parker
Directed by S.J. Clarkson

Cassandra: "If you want to live, you have to trust me."

The first live action comic book movie of 2024 and we are definitely not off to the greatest of starts, are you? The curse of Venom being a hit was that Sony had a misguided belief that there was an audience for Spider-Man adjacent projects. This film currently bombing in theatres should put paid to that.

So, snarkiness aside, how bad a movie is Madame Web? I'll let you on a secret, it's not strictly bad per se, just painfully average and too plodding for it's own good, following by a very rushed conclusion, a desperate to bag a sequel and other stuff in between.

The movie started in the jungle of Peru where Ezekiel Sims (Tahir Rahim) betrayed his whole team, just to get his hands on a spider. This included leaving the heavily pregnant Constance Web (Kerry Bishe) for dead, only for a tribe of Spider people to deliver her baby girl.

Thirty years later and the baby in question turned out to be a snarky, emotionally distant woman named Cassandra (Dakota Johnson). She's a paramedic working with Ben Parker (Adam Scott), the uncle of you know who and pretty soon a freak accident at work managed to awaken Cassandra's psychic abilities. 

At the same of that the very rich Ezekiel had his girl Friday, Amaria (Zosia Mamet) track down three teenagers. The teenagers being Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced) and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O'Connor). Apparently these three will grow up to be Spider-Women and bring about Sims downfall, so he's desperate to take them out first.

Because of that, the three teenagers and Cassandra become entwined with each other and the latter's powers continued to manifest, she took it upon herself to learn more of her mother's past while also stopping Ezekiel (who donned a black Spider suit) from killing Julia, Anya and Mattie.

The funny part was that while also this was happening, you also had the subplot of Mary Parker (Emma Roberts) being creeped out by Cassandra during her baby shower and of course giving birth to Peter, though his name was never stated in the movie. It's amusing but doesn't influence the main story itself.

Other than that, the last battle between Ezekiel and Cassandra was something of a rushed job with the former defeated in a rather anticlimactic fashion and the latter getting blinded and paralysed for comic book accuracy. As for that ending, yeah, we're never getting a resolution to that one.

- The original idea for this movie was actually Cassandra and the Spider-Women protecting a pregnant Mary Parker from a time travelling Ezekiel Sims, which would've made more sense.
- Despite marketing the leads in costumes, you barely see it. Superhero movies need to stop with grounding things like that.
- Standout music: Britney Spears Toxic, Cranberries Dreams and Yeah Yeah Yeah's Miles Away.
- Chronology: 1973 Peru and 2003 Manhattan during this movie.

Madame Web has definitely gotten 2024 off to a rocky start with this particular genre and it might not be the only movie to suffer as a result. It's far from the worst I've ever seen but there was clearly a better movie that got massacred with studio interference and far too many rewrites. Memes aside, this one should be quickly forgotten about.

Rating: 5 out of 10

Sunday, March 17, 2024

My Review of Darby O'Gill And The Little People (1959)

 


Written by Lawrence Edward Watkin
Directed by Robert Stevenson

King Brian (to Darby): "Three wishes I'll grant ye, great wishes an' small. But you wish a fourth and you'll lose them all."

I wanted the perfect movie for St. Patrick's Day, review wise and there were a few contenders but none quite as perfect as this one. It might not be set during the day itself but it's definitely a quintessentially Irish movie nonetheless.

Set in a small Irish town (aren't they always?) named Rathcullen, you have the titular character of the piece. Darby O'Gill (Albert Sharpe), who happened to be the caretaker of Lord Fitzpatrick's (Walter Fitzgerald) estate, living in the house with his unmarried daughter, Katie (Janet Munro). So far nothing out of the ordinary there.

However it's quickly established that Lord Fitzpatrick intended to replace Darby and Katie with Dubliner Michael McBride (Sean Connery) but far more interesting than that would be Darby's fixation on leprechauns. Not just them, but specifically, King Brian (Jimmy O'Dea) himself.

The battle of wits between Darby and King Brian made up a lot of the screentime of this movie. King Brian had fun in tricking Darby into making a fourth wish so the latter could lose the lot, only for Darby to trick the Leprechaun into being his prisoner while he considered a new set of wishes.  

Of course with Darby spending too much regaling the locals of Leprechauns and a slow burning romance between Michael and Katie brewing, the closest to real antagonists in this film were the nosy widow Sheelah Sugrue (Estelle Winwood) and her loutish son, Pony (Kieron Moore). Both of them were foils to Darby and Michael with Katie caught in the middle of their schemes.

Speaking of Katie, the movie had her the victim of death and the banshee and the Dullahan came to collect her. However more treachery from King Brian following a noble attempt of self sacrifice from Darby meant that this movie ended on a rather happy note.

- Director Robert Stevenson would go on to make such film as Mary Poppins and Bedknobs And Broomsticks.
- The movie is based on a book titled Darby O'Gill And The Good People. Walt Disney had the idea of an Irish movie since 1947 and the idea went through various stages before we got this.
- Standout music: Both Michael and Katie singing Pretty Irish Girl at various points.
- Chronology: Presumably 1950s Ireland.

Darby O'Gill And The Little People is always a joy to watch. It's fun, mischievous and has a great battle of wits between both Darby and King Brian. Not to mention I found that Banshee and Dullahan pretty spooky at the time I first watched.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Friday, March 15, 2024

Doctor Who - Season 1 (Series 14) Airdate Confirmed/That Other News Discussion

Yes, finally, I'm doing another Doctor Who blog as today some major news came out in relation to the new series.

After a hefty period of radio silence, the BBC confirmed today that Series 14/Season 1 of Doctor Who, starring Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson as the 15th Doctor and Ruby Sunday will premiere from May 11th on BBC1 and May 10th on Disney+, albeit with a twist.

First of all, we're getting a double bill to begin with and secondly the episodes will premiere first at 12.00am on Saturdays before getting a regular slot on Saturday evening. Every week after that will be single episodes. Those first two episodes will also precede this year's Eurovision on BBC1.

The eight part series, which has yet to announce it's full writers at least has reiterated some of the guest cast. You can expect Michelle Greenidge, Angela Wynter, Anita Dobson, Jinkx Monsoon, Aneurin Barnard, Jemma Redgrave, Yasmin Finney, Indira Varma, Jonathan Groff, Bonnie Langford and Lenny Rush with more names to be announced over the comimg weeks.

As for series itself, showrunner and executive producer Russell T. Davies had this to say ....

"At last, it’s my great delight to unleash a whole new season of the Doctor and Ruby’s adventures together. Monsters! Chases! Villains! Mysteries! And a terrifying secret that’s been spanning time and space for decades. Don’t miss a second!"


Of course with this much needed news released today, I hadn't forgotten about another item that leaked two months ago. Yes, time to talk about this one.

Back in January, it was revealed that Andor actress Varada Sethu had been cast as a regular for Series 15/Season 2. In fact it had been revealed that Sethu's character would be the main companion for the 2025 series while Millie Gibson's Ruby would be a recurring character, scheduled to appear in three episodes next year.

I have to say that the handling of this situation has been extremely disappointing to say the least with the press being needlessly nasty towards Millie Gibson in particular. However I'm not too surprised that perhaps Ruby Sunday will be a shorter term companion compared to the longer term ones we've had in recent years. As for Varada Sethu, I'm guessing we'll be waiting a while before her casting will be confirmed officially.

Last but not least, there's a rumour going around that this year's upcoming Christmas special, starring Ncuti Gatwa and Nicola Coughlan might be written by Steven Moffat. If true, that's a surprise turn of events as it was assumed that Russell T. Davies would be writing it. At this point, it's definitely safe to assume that Moffat is back for the series.

Doctor Who will air at midnight on BBC iPlayer/BBC1 from May 11th and stream on Disney+ at 4pm/7pm from May 10th.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

My Review of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans - Phantasm Forgiveness

 


Written by Jon Robin Baitz 
Directed by Gus Van Sant 

Babe: "I never thought society would simply evaporate. What happened?"
Slim: "Everything ends. Shall we go have lunch?"

And there it was. A finale that like the previous season touched a little on the fantastical side of things. We saw the death of Truman Capote in the previous episode. This was the moments that led to his end.

Capote was determined to use Answered Prayers as a means to apologise to his beloved Swans with his own mother providing her own literary notes along the way.

For CZ, it was about sexual liberation.  Going to Mexico to trade her nude portrait for two whiskeys after Truman lied about parts of what he wrote about her. CZ was always the most likely to forgive Truman the easiest and she did.

As for Slim, it turned out that letting her get the venom out of her system and a black and white ball in her honour would be the perfect way to forgive Truman. That and meeting her last great love on the very night that honoured her certainly helped.

Lee on the other hand, giving her a book that was her own voice, something her much more famous sister couldn't take away from her would be the perfect method of forgiveness.  Oh and killing her closeted husband would be the cherry on top.

Only none of those things actually happened because between ghostly visits from Ann Woodward and Truman's own mother, Truman never got to actually write the book. He did however relive his mother's suicide while both Demi Moore and Jessica Lange finally got something to really do, material wise in this finale.

Then we went back to Joanne telling Jack about Truman's death before the final scene in the future with Capote's ashes being sold at auction. The fantastical bit being four of the Swans bemoaning the death of culture as they sashayed away into the afterlife. That's it folks.

- Jack's toyboy lover was called Nick and he was a fan of Capote's writing and big on forgiveness.
- Truman changed everyone's names in his fiction except for Lee and Ann. He called himself PB Jones.
- Of course the black Swan from the opening scene recreated was his mother. There was emphasis on two bidders that went nowhere at the end.
- Chronology: 1984 for the majority of the episode, 2016 for the last scene. We also got a flashback to Truman as a kid having to be quiet while his mother snared a man.

Phantasm Forgiveness made for a good finale. Yes, the show didn't quite hit the same heights as the previous season but it was a good second act and hopefully we won't be waiting seven years for the next season.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Scream VII/7 - Neve Campbell/Kevin Williamson Returning

Well, in a move that can be either seen as Spyglass doing ultimate damage control or a much needed step in the right direction, this just happened. I'll let you decide on this outcome.

After not paying her worth for Scream VI, it seems that Spyglass decided to change their stance as Neve Campbell will be back for the upcoming seventh movie. Taking to Instagram yesterday, Neve announced her return to the popular horror franchise and so far, she's the only confirmed returning cast member for the next movie in the series. However she's not the only return that was confirmed.

Also confirmed yesterday was franchise creator himself Kevin Williamson, who in a very surprising move was confirmed to be the director for the movie. Williamson replaced Christopher Landon, who stepped down back in December. The seventh movie will be written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick with Radio Silence also producing the movie.

Now as for where this seventh installment will go, given that the Core Four won't be returning and Sidney Prescott will be the focus again has yet to be revealed. I'm assuming that now Sidney is married and a mother herself that her family will be the target of a new Ghostface. I'm also assuming we'll not only see Mark Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey) but Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) will likely be back as well.

As for Melissa Barrera, sadly it seems that Sam Carpenter's story is over for the time being. Melissa did express interest in returning to the franchise but not while Spyglass are in charge of it. However, she does have three movies coming out this year. There's vampire movie, Abigail (April 19th) that she worked with Radio Silence while Your Monster and The Collaboration will also release in 2024. 

I have to admit my feelings on this news has been mixed. I can't deny that I'm happy to see both Neve Campbell and Kevin Williamson back into the Scream fold but it doesn't change the fact that Spyglass's treatment of Melissa Barrera is still reprehensible and I hope that Melissa continues to get more and more work. 

Filming for Scream VII/7 will start later in the year for a 2025 theatrical release.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

My Review of Mary & George: "The Hunt"

 


Written by D.C. Moore
Directed by Oliver Hermanus

King James (to George): "Take me, bury me. I want to forget who I am. I am nothing but your subject."

For a courtship, it felt like George had to go the extra mile to get his man but it also felt like he had to make no effort at all. End result though, he's certainly gotten King James well and truly hooked.

It was amusing at the start of the episode watching him go the other part of the road to try and meet the King, only to be leered at by a strange man and wind up in the mud. However bad information to one side, George still managed to charm the King.

Of course as George got closer to the King, he also put a massive target on his back by the Earl of Somerset. The latter spent so much of this episode acting the jealous boyfriend and instead of dissuading George, his various actions, including a sabotage during the hunt only brought George and James closer together. The King even bottomed for his new paramour.

Saying that, George's success wasn't solely down to him. Yes, Mary definitely continued to play her role in securing her second son's future and even enlisted the help of Sir David (Angus Wright) and Queen Anne (Trine Dyrholm) in order to do that. Having those who hated Robert definitely worked in Mary and George's favour this week.

One of the delightful parts of this episode did involve Mary's rapport with local prostitute Sandie (Niamh Algar). I could've watched more of their scenes together as they were so good. The two of them as a team also didn't end well for Sir David either.

As for the rest of the episode, Mary did try to secure her first born son John's future but thanks to Queen Anne's lady in waiting Elizabeth Hatton (Nicola Walker),  that was a bit of a disaster. Elizabeth and Sandie brought out some of the best scenes for Mary this episode.

- John murdered a dog in this episode. Mary and George couldn't cover for him and failed to get Sir Edward Coke's daughter as a bride.
- Mary had more chemistry with Sandie than she's had with either husband so far. 
- Sandie hinted at a shady past and Mary killed Sir David by poisoning prunes.
- Chronology: It was 1615 for this episode.

The Hunt definitely brought George and James together while giving Mary some great scenes with other characters. The sex scenes had an edge without feeling exploitative and there was plenty of treachery afoot as well.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Monday, March 11, 2024

My Review of The Holdovers (2023)

 


Written by David Hemingson
Directed by Alexander Payne

Angus: "I don't think I've ever had a real family Christmas like this before. Thank you, Mary."
Mary: "You're welcome."

I didn't think I'd be reviewing a Christmas movie in March but with the Oscars on last night, I thought it was time to catch up with this one. I'm really glad I did.

Set in a New England boarding school, the focus of this movie was largely on three very different characters and the effect each of them had on each other. You got classic professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), smart mouthed student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and cafeteria manager Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph). An interesting trio of characters but what brought them together?

Funnily enough the title itself. With this film largely taking place during Christmas break, Paul found himself having to chaperone students who weren't going home for the holidays, which was where Angus fell in. As for Mary, she was grieving her son, Curtis and didn't want to spend Christmas with her own family.

Having these three characters bond and bicker over the course of this two hour plus movie definitely had its moments as we learned a lot about them. For example, Angus initially let Paul and Mary believe his father, Thomas (Stephen Thorne) was dead, only fot it to be later revealed he was institutionalized. 

Of course along with that, the movie made a lot of Angus's acts of defiance against Paul (one resulting in a broken arm at one point) make a bit more sense. Dominic Sessa walked the line with Angus, keeping the character pretty sympathetic and likeable, even when he was being a pain in the backside.

As for Paul, I think this role will definitely be a career defining one for Giamatti as an actor. Paul's a character who's not respected by his peers or his students, had a plagiarism accusations levelled at him with consequences and doesn't seem to be able to tell fellow worker, Lydia (Carrie Preston) that he likes her. However when the chips were down, he came through for Angus despite the consequences being dire for him.

Then there was Mary. A lot of the times, she was a mediator to both Paul and Angus butting heads with one another but her grief for her son and reconnecting with her own family was a nice done arc. It's no wonder that Da'Vine Joy Randolph bagged the Oscar for Supporting Actress. She's on fantastic form here.

- Some of the other Holdovers students included a jock rival for Angus, a weed dealer and a Japanese exchange student, who disappeared for a large chunk of the movie.
- This movie having a plot about plagiarism also manifested recently in real life itself.
- I had to laugh at Paul giving both Angus and Mary the same book about meditation. Mary had a near romance of her own with Danny as did Angus with Lydia's niece.
- Angus was originally meant to be younger but was aged up for Dominic Sessa. 
- Standout music: There's an abundance of Christmas music here so the highlights are Carol Of The Drum, Silent Night, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Jingle Bells to name a few.
- Chronology December 1970 and January 1971. Mostly in New England with a trip to Boston as well.

I really wished I had watched The Holdovers during Christmas because it was an absolute delight finally catching up with it. All three leads were excellent, the characters engaging and the rapport sublime throughout. 

Rating: 9 out of 10