My Review of Little Women (2019)

 

Written And Directed by Greta Gerwig

Jo: "Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they've got ambition, and they've got talent, as well as just beauty. I'm so sick of people saying that love is just all a woman is fit for. I'm so sick of it."

Over a week ago, I watched and reviewed the 1994 version of this adaptation and while it still remains my favourite take on the source material, there's no denying that this version has a charm of its own as well.

Told in a non linear fashion, this one opened with Jo March (Saoirse Ronan) pitching her book to a publisher who wasn't particularly keen on a female protagonist. Also to Jo's annoyance, he wanted the main character to be married off by the end of the book.

From there onwards, we're going through different periods with Jo and her sisters, Meg (Emma Watson), Amy (Florence Pugh) and Beth (Eliza Scanlen) as well as Marmee (Laura Dern), the more acid tongued Aunt March (Meryl Streep) and of course Theodore 'Laurie' Laurence (Timothee Chalamet) himself.

Most of the plot remain the same. Jo's got an ambition to write and a staunch rejection of anything that would derail, including Laurie wanting to marry her. The rivalry between her and Amy in the first half of the movie definitely felt more contentious than in the 1994 version, with Amy almost being more deliberate in her antagonism towards Jo.

Of course Amy would be the one to become quite the artist in Paris with Aunt March and the one who Laurie would eventually marry. Jo of course would have her own romance with professor Friedrich Bhaer (Louis Garrel) but once it does feel like little time was spent developing that romance than even the 1994 movie did.

As for Meg, she settled into a good life with the nice John Brooke (James Norton) while Beth yet again, tragically died. There was some focus on Meg sacrificing her affluent life for a poorer one with John as well a little focus on Beth's musical talent. Once again, the March patriarch (Bob Odenkirk) appeared but his best scene was trading barbs with the cantankerous aunt before she died and the girls turned her house into a school.

- Greta Gerwig wasn't the original writer/director choice for this movie but she had cited that the book inspired her to want to be a writer and director.

- The sisters are all assigned core colours in their clothing. Jo got red, Meg got green and lavender, Beth got pink and brown and Amy got light blue. Though they did wear different colours as the movie went on.

- Standout music: The score from Alexandre Desplat certainly elevated the movie.

- Chronology: Civil War era in Concord, Massachusetts. 

While the 1994 version would be my preferred take, this adaptation of Little Women has rightfully earned the success and praise it's gotten. It's extremely well cast, the nonlinear storytelling mixed it up and Gerwig's direction was brilliant.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Black Doves - Season 1 (2024, Netflix Series)

 

Written by Joe Barton

Directed by Alex Gabassi And Lisa Gunning

Sam (to Helen): "People like you and me, darling. We don't get to ride into the sunset but we do get to see the stars go out, so that's something I guess."

Just in time for Christmas, Netflix decided to do their series version of Die Hard. Nah, not really but what we did get was this thoroughly entertaining six part spy series with three of the most talented actors in the UK at the forefront.

The death of the Chinese ambassador and his missing daughter, Kai-Ming (Isabella Wei) brought our three protagonists back into each others lives and with it, a rather complicated mess, a high body count and ever changing alliances.

The protagonists themselves. First of all, there's the enigmatic handler, Reed (Sarah Lancashire). She's not a woman to be trifled and her hold over the Black Doves meant that she had no problem pitting them against one another as well as testing their loyalty at different points during the series. Lancashire does play this type of role to cool perfection, though very little was revealed about her personal life.

Then there was Helen Webb (Keira Knightley). The Black Dove married with two kids to Wallace Webb (Andrew Buchan), the Secretary of State for Defence and seemingly has the idyllic lifestyle. Helen was also having an affair with civil servant Jason Davies (Andrew Koji) while nearly getting replaced by overambitious upstart Dani (Agnes O'Casey). As a character, Helen's a great role for Knightley and she got plenty of great moments throughout the series.

My favourite character was trigger man Sam Young (Ben Whishaw). He's dragged back into the mission, owing debts to both Reed and former boss, Lenny Lines (Kathryn Hunter) while also trying to repair his relationship with ex boyfriend Michael (Omari Douglas). Yup, writer Joe Barton strikes again with great writing for queer men and Sam's the best character of the three with Whishaw rather adept at the action scenes he's given to do.

Honestly the show does have a lot of intriguing character, including a rival triggerman named Williams (Ella Lily Hyland). She was a great foil to Sam and Helen along with the seemingly ambiguous characters like Cole Atwood (Finn Bennett) and Hector Newman (Luthor Ford). The latter in particular had a complicated relationship with Sam that I definitely wanted to see more. 

The only slight disappointment might be Alex Clark (Tracy Ullman), the closest to a truly vllainous person but that was more down to her having very little screen time. On the other hand, her death will have major consequences and ones we should see play out in real time.

- The episode titles were To Love Then, A Little Black Dove, The Coming Night, Go Bang Time, The Cost Of It All and In The Bleak Midwinter.

- Netflix fortunately renewed this show for a second season a few days ago. I would've watched it even if they hadn't.

- Sam admitted while tied up that his favourite Christmas movie was The Holiday. 

- There's a lot of great guest actors in the series such as Papa Essiedu, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Sam Troughton, Adeel Akhtar and Lizzie Hopley to name a few.

- Standout music: Of course it's The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl's Fairytale Of New York as well as Raye's version of Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down). The latter being the theme tune for the show.

- Chronology: Set in London during Christmas 2024 with flashbacks to 2014, 2017 and one further back into Sam's childhood with his trigger man father.

Black Doves was the perfect release for Christmas and I'm really glad that this show did well enough for Netflix to renew it for a second season. Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire are all on terrific form and the tone was judged well. It was tense where it needed to be, the humour added levity but didn't detract from the seriousness and the personal relationships were all handled well. Excellent stuff.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024)

 

Written by Ian Bonhôte And Peter Ettedgui And Otto Burnham

Directed by Ian Bonhôte And Peter Ettedgui

Tagline: "Husband. Father. Fighter. Hero."

I've been waiting a while to watch this and finally this week,I got the chance to sit down and see it. After watching the trailer for the upcoming 2025 movie, I really needed to see this documentary.

To many people my generation and slightly older and even younger, Christopher Reeve has always felt like the definitive version of Superman and that's not to take away any of the good work that actors both before and after Reeve have done with the character. There's just some performances that have lived on for generations and his Superman undoubtedly became one of them.

This documentary might lean heavily into the Superman aspect of Christopher Reeve but there's also plenty that goes beyond it. You get insights from his children Will, Matthew and Alexandra as well as his ex partner, Gae Exton and of course his wife, Dana. There's also some Frank discussions about Reeve's relationship with his own father, Franklin throughout the documentary.

Along with his personal life brought to the forefront, there was his acting career. A Juiliard alumni, Reeve was something of a theatre actor with the call for Superman almost being one that he might not have taken. He did have people in his corner pointing out that it might not have been the best career move. Fortunately, they were wrong, at least for the first two movies.

There's some discussion about later movies (yup, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace) not being a hit while roles like Somewhere In Time were also not fondly regarded at the time. There was also a mention of Reeve tackling gay roles in movies like In The Gloaming as well as a stage production with actor Jeff Daniels.

Within the second half of the documentary, the discussion does turn towards Christopher Reeve becoming paralysed and the dramatic changes to his life from that accident. It's hard not to admire the man for doing the best he could to continue to live his life, continue to work as an actor (which included a TV remake of Rear Window) prior to his death in 2004. This documentary really did live up to its title.

- The DC Studios logo appeared at the beginning, prior to the HBO one. UK audiences can watch this on Sky Documentaries from December 28th.

- Other celebrities who contributed to this included Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Glenn Close, John Kerry, Richard Donner and Robin Williams (archive footage).

- We did get to see some screen tests from Superman: The Movie as well that interview where Reeve admitted to not enjoying working with Marlon Brando.

- Needless to say, this documentary has been nominated for several awards since it's release and won some as well.

I genuinely loved Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. Both as a fan of the man and the iconic character he played, this was a brilliant insight into a man with quite the enduring legacy. An absolute must see.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Creature Commandos: "Chasing Squirrels"

 

Written by James Gunn

Directed by Sam Liu 

Nina (re Weasel): "I wonder what he's dreaming about."

The Bride: "Probably just chasing squirrels."

Remember when everyone thought Weasel killed 27 children? Well, it turns out that he didn't. Also, eight children died and if anything, Weasel, the poor thing was trying to save them. Talk about misjudging a character.

This episode was his time to shine with the flashbacks and my goodness, they were brutal. All Weasel did was befriend a bunch of children and between a freaked out groundskeepers, incompetent police and kids playing with matches, he got vilified big time.

On the other hand, Weasel did have at least one person in his corner. His lawyer, Elizabeth Bates (Linda Cardellini) genuinely believed he was innocent. She even tried to get him to give her more details on the incident in question but it didn't take. 

Instead as Weasel went off on another mission to Pokolistan with The Bride, Nina and Doctor Phosphorus, we had the Rick Flag Sr and Eric Frankenstein bromance to contend. I mean there was some fighting, initial rival confusion, references to Titanic and When Harry Met Sally but their scenes were enjoyable. I'm still rooting for The Bride to kill Eric though.

As for Circe, well, I think she's telling the truth. Showing Amanda Waller of a Knightmare sequence future with Ilana, Gorilla Grodd and the Amethyst Knights as rulers. Yup, it was enough to scare Waller into sending Project M to take out the Princess. Too bad Rick Sr was too busy thinking with his dick than brain this episode. 

- We got John Economos (Steve Agee) as well as Themyscira expert, Aisla MacPherson (Stephanie Beatriz) in this episode along with Congorilla (Jason Konopisos-Alvarez) and Nosferata in scenes.

- The Dark future included the likes of Batman, Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman, Starfire, Green Arrow, Vigilante and Peacemaker slaughtered.

- Circe might be powerless with her hands covered but she could still get into Waller's head for that particular scene.

- Chronology: From where the previous one left off.

I didn't think I'd care about Weasel but Chasing Squirrels really did make me feel bad for the poor fella. His flashbacks were suitably horrible while the other plots of the episode were also on top form. This one might be my favourite yet.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Anora (2024)

 

Written And Directed by Sean Baker

Anora: "Oh, stay jealous, babe. Stay jealous, honey. Jealousy is a disease, remember that, Diamond. I'm just gonna go chill in my mansion or whatever, you know, no big deal!"

Yes, I finally managed to get to this much hyped Oscar contender of a movie. I was always going to watch but after watching Mikey Madison and Pamela Anderson's Actors On Actors talk the other day, it was time to watch it. Is it worth the crazy hype it's gotten? I think it might be.

Anyways Madison played the titular character, a sex worker named Anora Mekheeva, who also liked to go by Ani. In her line of business, she mostly had friends like Lulu (Luna Sofía Miranda) and rivals like Diamond (Lindsey Normington) and also admirers to boot.

One particular admirer came in the shape of spoiled son of Russian Oligarch named Ivan "Vanya" Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn). Vanya took a shine to Anora to the point where he was both buying her time from her job while at the same time getting a four carat ring to pop the question. Yup, Anora went from cash strapped stripper to marrying a spoiled rich guy before the first hour of the movie.

However getting married to Vanya came with consequences and those were associates of his family that Anora herself had to deal with. Enter the likes of Armenian handler Toros (Karren Karagulian), his henchmen brother, Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Russian henchman Igor (Yura Borisov). Their goal was to get Anora to agree to an annulment on behalf of Vanya's parents. They had their work cut out for them.

For a tiny girl, Anora certainly had no problem in beating the shit out of both Igor and Garnick. She bit the former in the neck and broke the latter's nose and that's not to mention the barrage of verbal abuse she gave both of them as well as Toros. Vanya on the other hand just abandoned her to his parents henchmen.

Then there was the parents themselves. Galina (Darya Ekamasova) made her disdain for Anora well known while Nikolai (Aleksei Serebryakov) seemed absolutely bemused by his son's impulse marriage. Needless to say, this wasn't the fairytale ending for Anora and an ill advised near sex scene at the end somewhat concluded this movie on a murky note.

- For a movie that was highly sexualised, even I was surprised that Mikey Madison admitted they didn't use an intimacy coordinator for it.

- The mansion where a fair chunk of the movie took place was a Mill Basin mansion once owned by Vasily Anisimov, a oligarch with ties to Russia. 

- Standout music: Catherine Slater's Daddy AF, Take That/Calum Scott's Greatest Day and Roman Molino Dunn's Ice Cream.

- Chronology: Present Day Brooklyn as well as a trip to Las Vegas for both a wedding and an annulment.

Anora certainly lived up to the hype. Mikey Madison has certainly earned her award nods this season. It's a great movie with a love story that certainly ended on the kind of note it needed. It's also very funny in parts, which surprised me more.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Small Things Like These (2024)

 

Written by Enda Walsh

Directed by Tim Mielants

Bill: "I'm me mother's name and nothing bad ever came of it."

I watched this movie last night because someone really wanted to see it and I mildly curious about it myself. There's been a few films and TV series that have tackled the Magdalene Laundries and this film had something of a different insight into it.

Instead of focusing on a girl who ended up in one of those awful places, the emphasis here was on coal merchant, Bill Furlong (Cillian Murphy). He's a father of five daughters and something of a well regarded member of his local community with a loving wife named Eileen (Eileen Walsh).

Through flashbacks to his childhood, we saw that the younger Bill (Louis Kirwan) lost his own mother, Sarah Furlong (Agnes O'Casey) while also in flashbacks, Bill had been looked after by the kindly Mrs Wilson (Michelle Fairley). These flashbacks did a lot to inform us about the type of man that Bill Furlong was.

Back in the present day for Bill, it turned out that the nuns had a bit too much power within the local community. Bill was advised not to get on their bad side but his encounter with a young girl named Sarah (Zara Devlin) certainly changed that. 

Then there's Sister Mary (Emily Watson). The Mother Superior of the Magdalene Laundries that Sarah had been trying to get away from. For a character not given a huge amount of dialogue, she's a quietly menacing presence. Sarah's absolutely terrified of her and even Bill was intimidated enough to take Sister Mary's bribe and leave Sarah to her fate.

Of course, because the movie went to lengths to show Bill's morality, he couldn't just turn away from what he knew was going on. While I do feel the movie ended on a bit of an abrupt note, it's not lost on me the gesture Bill made towards Sarah and the likely consequences it would've had for his family within the local community.

- The movie is based on a 2021 book of the same name by Claire Keegan. Both Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon were producers.

- The end credit was dedicated to the women who were victims of the Magdalene Laundries from 1922 to 1988.

- Cillian Murphy had previously worked with Tim Mielants and it was the former's wife who suggested this project.

- Chronology: Christmas 1985 in New Ross, Wexford. The movie was also filmed there.

While Small Things Like These did lose a little steam in its final few minutes, there's no denying that it's a well crafted movie. The subject matter isn't unfamiliar to Irish audiences and Cillian Murphy as always gave an exceptional but understated performance.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)

  

Written by Derek Ford And Alan Birkinshaw

Directed by Edmund Purdom

Announcer: "A homicidal maniac is loose at Christmas. His target is Santa Claus. No one dressed as Santa Claus is safe."

A few weeks ago, I was looking for some Christmas horror and then I came across this British movie from forty years ago. Let's just say I wouldn't recommend this one to be honest.

Depending on how you feel about the Silent Night, Deadly Night series, you may struggle with this one. I definitely did. Anyways, killing Santa anyone? Because that's what you're getting with this one.

Yup, a guy dressed in a translucent mask goes through the streets of London during the festive period killing couples to begin with but when a man dressed as Santa got killed in a public setting, it gave the movie a protagonist of sorts with his daughter, Kate (Belinda Mayne).

Kate's got a shitty boyfriend named Cliff (Gerry Sundquist) and there's a plot involving a porn studio and a rival stripper named Sherry (Wendy Danvers). Sherry ended up being a captive of the killer while Cliff was seen as a suspect in the slew of murders taking place over the movie.

There's also Chief Inspector Harris (Edmund Purdom), desperately trying to solve the case while his younger brother Giles (Alan Lake) turned out to be the killer himself. His hatred for Santa does blatantly pull from that horror movie series I mentioned earlier but the brotherly dynamic between the Chief Inspector and the killer was rather poorly explored.

- Caroline Munro appears as herself while Purdom the director played the male hero of the piece.

- Nicholas Donnelly is credited as Dr Birdie but his scenes were deleted.

- The film took over a year to make with the amount of behind the scene disasters that befell it.

- Chronology: It's set during Christmas in London with flashbacks to the Christmas incident that triggered Giles's bloodlust.

I definitely wouldn't recommend Don't Open Till Christmas. It's pretty awful as a movie and it was certainly time that I could've used better myself. Honestly, don't bother with this one.

Rating: 4 out of 10 

My Review of Black Christmas (2019)

 

Written by Sophie Takal And April Wolf

Directed by Sophie Takal

Kris: "You messed with the wrong sisters."

You know the way sometimes the word "woke" can be weaponised as a negative for a piece of media that's usually more diverse? Yeah, I hate when that happens but every once on a while a piece of media somewhat warrants the negativity.

This reboot being one of them. We already got a surprisingly decent remake back in 2006, so was there a need for a version of this horror movie that seemed to be written for the 2010s Tumblr crowd? Apparently so.

Let's get on with this, shall we? To make this movie different but infinity far less interesting than 1974 or 2006, the 2019 version decided that Billy Lens wasn't a compelling enough antagonist to terrorise a bunch of sorority sisters. Nope, a misogynistic cult led by Professor Gelson (Cary Elwes) was the way to go here. That and some dead Hawthorne bloke and possessive goo from a bust.

It's as nonsensical as it sounded with the protagonists in questions being the least compelling ones we've had with this series. There was Riley (Imogen Poots), Kris (Aleyse Shannon), Marty (Lily Donoughue) and Jesse (Brittany O'Grady). Oh and token nice guy, Landon (Caleb Eberhardt).

Alongside Gelson as the ringleader, the frat guys also had the massively antagonistic Brian (Ryan McIntyre), who previously attacked Riley. About halfway through the movie, there's an awfully done sing song about Brian's rapey tendencies by the girls at a Christmas pageant.

Then there's Helena (Madeleine Adams). She's the "traitor" of the group, foolishly misled by the boys into subservience, only to be killed by them. Yeah, the entire film flatlines because the poor handled "men vs. women" commentary that previously didn't do and were ultimately better for not doing. 

- The Cult members were giving serious Ghostface vibes but nowhere near as interesting.

- There's a mid credit sequence with Claudette the cat that I'll admit was funny enough.

- Standout music: The Larks Christmas To New Year and Rose Graham Black Christmas.

- Chronology: 2019 Christmas time, with Hawthorne college being the main setting.

I'm going to be brutally, if I never watch this version of Black Christmas again, it'll be a godsend. The movie just straight up sucks, horribly handles it's message with most of the cast barely phoning it in. Just stick to the other versions and give this one a miss.

Rating: 3 out of 10 

My Review of The Lion King (2019)

 

Written by Jeff Nathanson

Directed by Jon Favreau

Simba: "My father once told me: protect everything the light touches, if I don't fight for it who will?"

Earlier this month, I wrote a long overdue review for the animated movie and with Mufasa: The Lion King coming out this week, it was finally time to actually watch this live action taken on the iconic 1994 movie.

I got to be honest, part of the reason why I held off watching this was down to the fact that it looked so bland and almost colourless from thr trailers. Gone was the vibrancy of the animated movie for this version.

As a movie, it's a bit too dull and muted and especially during scenes where the colour needed to pop. Like most live action adaptations, it largely stuck to what the original movie with a little bit of character expansion here and there.

Once again, Simba (Donald Glover/JD McCrary) was destined to succeed his father, Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and once again, Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) enlisted the help of hyenas Shenzi (Florence Kasumba), Kamari (Keegan-Michael Key) and Azizi (Eric Andre) to usurp both Mufasa and Simba as King of Pride Rock.

There's a bit more time spent on seeing Scar's ruling ruin the Pride Lands with both Sarabi (Alfre Woodard) and Nala (Beyonce Knowles-Carter/Shahadi Wright Joseph) determined to put a stop to Scar. Nala did so by actually reuniting with Simba, albeit she wasn't too thrilled with his friendship with both Pumbaa (Seth Rogan) and Timon (Billy Eichner).

As you can tell, the last act played out the same between Simba and Scar with a side battle of sorts between Nala and Shenzi to fill up the time. Add some choice moments with Zazu (John Oliver) and Rafiki (John Kani) throughout the movie and it's just a race to the finish line for this one.

- Some new characters included a guinea fowl, a bushbaby, an elephant shrew, and an impala but they had little to do.

- James Earl Jones was the only actor from the 1994 movie to reprise his role. Scar was a more scraggly but lighter coloured lion compared to his animated counterpart.

- Standout music: Same as the 1994 but not as good if I'm being honest.

- Chronology: An unspecified time in the Pride Lands of Tanzania.

I didn't hate this version of The Lion King but I'd be lying if I said I loved it. Compared to it's animated counterpart, it feels very bland by comparison, more than I thought it would. I was largely underwhelmed by it.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Little Women (1994)

 

Written by Robin Sword

Directed by Gillian Armstrong

Jo: "Now we are all family, as we always should have been."

In some ways, I think this almost qualifies as a Christmas movie, right? It's mostly set during a winter time period. Except for the moments it's not and that ending of course.

To my surprise, while this might have been the first adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott book of the same name that I watched, it's actually the third movie adaptation. Also probably still the most iconic one too.

The titular women in question were the March sisters. There was aspiring writer, Jo (Winona Ryder), tender Beth (Claire Danes), the responsible Meg (Trini Alvarado) and youngest Amy (Samantha Mathis/Kirsten Dunst). The movie largely examines their lives as they all head into adulthood along with the support of their mother, Marmee (Susan Sarandon).

During the movie, we see each of the women try to find their own way in the world. However for Beth, it's more of a tragic outcome as she largely succumbed to illness. Beth's eventual passing was a genuine gut punch in the movie.

As for the rest of the women, the presence of one Theodore "Laurie" Laurence (Christian Bale) impacted all of them. He was a potential suitor for Meg but was in love with Jo and she didn't reciprocate his feelings. However he ended up with Amy and even then, I found myself wondering if his feelings for her were true.

With Amy becoming the companion of Aunt March (Mary Wickes) and improving as an artist and Meg settling for a life with a nice husband in John Brooke (Eric Stoltz), it was Jo to have the adventures as a writer, find her voice as a creative and get a book published. There was even a romance with professor Friedrich Bhaer (Gabriel Byrne) that the movie does slightly speed through towards the end.

- This is the only adaptation to have two different actors for Amy. 

- There's a loose sequel of sorts called Little Men that came out in 1998.

- The closing credits had 19th century portraits of the March sisters, which was a nice touch. 

- Chronology: American Civil War based in Concord, Massachusetts. Lot of it during the winter with Christmas incorporated into the story.

Whether it counts as a Christmas movie or not, Little Women does make for something perfect to watch this time of year. It's a lovely story about sisters and the performances from everyone involved are top notch. 

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Written by Jeffrey Price And Peter S. Seaman

Directed by Ron Howard

Cindy Lou: "Santa, what's the meaning of Christmas?"

The Grinch: "VENGEANCE! Er, I mean... presents, I suppose."

Now this was a movie I haven't watched in a very long time. I mean, it's really been a long time but with the month it is, this was something I wanted to catch up on again.

I remember having the book of this as a child and this live action adaptation was something I enjoyed back in the day. I'm also pleased that even now, it's held up pretty well with Jim Carrey giving quite the performance as the titular character.

What can be said about green kids being rejected? It certainly does a number on them psychologically. Even the Grinch's own parents didn't want him and his adopted mothers, Clair Nell (Mindy Sterling) and Rose Who (Rachel Winfree) couldn't do much to quell the Grinch's hatred of a certain time of year.

Add some flashbacks to a horrible school incident and a childhood crush not reciprocated and you have the Grinch taking his dislike for Christmas on everyone else. Then there was his meeting with Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen). She should've shown the Grinch the derision and fear everyone else at Whoville but she didn't.

Instead Cindy Lou was determined to get the Grinch to like Christmas once again and she wouldn't take no for an answer. Inviting the Grinch to the Holiday Cheermeister, there was childhood bully Mayor Augustus May Who (Jeffrey Tambor) proposing to the Grinch's childhood crush Martha May Whovier (Christine Baranski) to really set the Grinch.

Yes, with the grudging help of his dog, Max, the Grinch actually stole Christmas and came close to destroying the whole town's festive cheer until his conscience eventually won over. By the end of this movie, the Grinch got a lovely for Christmas, acceptance from the townspeople who rejected him and the love of his life. He really did have the best Christmas ever.

- Anthony Hopkins narrated the movie while Josh Ryan Evans played a younger version of the Grinch in flashbacks.

- This movie managed to get both Academy and Raspberry Award nominated. Fortunately, it won one nomination for the former and nothing for the latter.

- Standout music: Green Christmas, You're A Mean One Mr Grinch, Where Are You, Christmas? and Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?

- Chronology: The movie spanned many Christmases for the Grinch over Whoville and the cave he chose to live in.

Yeah, this was a fun nostalgia trip. How The Grinch Stole Christmas, it's a great live action adaptation of a classic Dr Seuss book and Jim Carrey gave a brilliant performance and looked great as the Grinch. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Black Christmas (2006)

 

Written And Directed by Glen Morgan

Billy: "She's my family now!"

Last week, I watched the original version of this movie from 1974 and last night, I watched the first remake/reboot from 2006. My expectations weren't exactly high but funnily enough, I was pleasantly surprised with this one.

Again, the villain would be Billy Lenz (Robert Mann/Cainan Wiebe) and once again, the setting would be a sorority house over the Christmas period, albeit with new protagonists. That in itself was a benefit to the movie as I think trying to do another version of Jess and company wouldn't have worked.

Our main Final Girl was the rather assertive and generally nice, Kelli Presley (Katie Cassidy). Instead of spending time with her boyfriend, Kyle Autry (Oliver Hudson), she wanted to spend it with her "sisters" and House Mother, Barbara MacHenry (Andrea Martin). Of course, Billy had other ideas.

With the girls being cooped up during a snow storm, we got to briefly know this batch of women. There was Melissa (Michelle Tratchenberg), Heather (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Dana (Lacey Chabert), Clair (Leela Savasta) the rather oddball Eve (Kathleen Kole) and Megan (Jessica Harmon). They're not the most developed of characters but neither are that too awful as characters either. It's more middle ground with them overall.

Anyways, the body count rose throughout the movie with each of the girls (and Barbara) getting gruesomely killed off while Clair's half sister, Leigh (Kristen Cloke) also found herself in the mix while Billy's backstory involving his abusive mother, Constance (Karin Konoval) and younger sister, Agnes (Dean Friss/Christina Crivici) was also revealed in gruesome detail.

The twist involving Agnes was a nice enough departure from the original movie and the added backstory for Billy actually helped the movie a lot more than expected. The final few minutes though are reminiscent of another horror sequel that came out five years after this movie. If you know you know.

- A different ending that played homage to the original film was scrapped in favour of the one we ended up with. Andrea Martin was Phyllis in the 1974 movie.

- This was actually released on Christmas Day in the US but ten days earlier in the UK.

- Standout music: Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy by Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky and Carol Of The Bells by The Roger Wagner Chorale.

- Chronology: Billy was born in 1970, Agnes in 1979, Billy went mad and killed his mother in 1991 and the current Christmas was in 2006.

My expectations weren't high for this version of Black Christmas but I actually enjoyed this as much as the original. It changed enough to give it an identity of it's own in a good way while also retaining the essence of the original and expanding on the lore of Billy as a villain. 

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Creature Commandos: "Cheers To The Tin Man"

 

Written by James Gunn 

Directed by Matt Peters 

Circe (to Project M): "You don't understand what you've done. You've doomed the world."

Wait, could Circe not be the bad guy after all? Yeah, I dont think so. Saying that, it's also very possible that Flag Sr and his monster squad might have made a colossal boo boo. Oh dear.

Circe at the end of the last episode along with her band of loser incels, the Sons of Themyscira left The Bride and Nina Mazursky tied up for Flag Sr and company to find. They did that and then realised that Circe now had the head start.

Circe didn't waste time getting to the castle and while the Princess was savvy enough to outsmart and even kill some SofT losers, she almost got obliterated by Circe. I swear if Weasel hadn't shown up and gone very feral, Ilana would've been dead on the spot.

Personally while I get the criticism of Circe not being at her full power, I actually didn't mind both Weasel and Phosphorus getting the jump here. I think Circe just didn't expect them to get her so quickly but I am going to need to know why she's so determined to kill the Princess.

As for G.I. Robot, his death by Circe came as a surprise but it shouldn't have done. There's likely more deaths coming up in these remaining episodes. G.I. Robot did though get some meaningful flashbacks with the likes of Sgt. Rock (Maury Sterling), Will Magnus (Alan Tudyk) and Sam Fitzgibbon (Michael Rooker) all expanding his backstory before his death in this one.

- We got some appearances for the likes of Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, Crimson Centipede and Fisherman to name some brief cameos along with Easy Company and a Metal Men Easter egg.

- Nina was quick to drop The Bride in it when they were heading back to the castle.

- I thought Ilana would've had a more up to date gun to defend herself instead of the one she did use.

- Chronology: Flashbacks to the 1940s, 1960s and 1990s for G.I. Robot.

Cheers To The Tin Man was a nice centre piece for G.I. Robot and it also remedied my previous criticism with the music from the first two episodes. The show's not holding back on the violence and this one even showed some entrails to boot.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of The Box Of Delights (1984 BBC1 Miniseries)

 

Written by Alan Seymour 

Directed by Renny Rye

Kay: "The wolves are running."

Well, it is the month of Christmas and while I haven't overloaded this blog yet with Christmas posts/reviews, I did recently watch this miniseries for the first time. Yes, you heard correctly - I watched this for the first time to coincide with it's 40th anniversary.

Imagine if Doctor Who sort of did Christmas specials back in the 1980s (K9 And Company aside), I'd imagine it'd be something like this that we would've gotten. The fact that Second Doctor actor Patrick Troughton also had a prominent role as a mysterious stranger certainly added to that feeling as well.

Anyways our hero of the piece was a boarding school kid named Kay Harker (Devin Stanfield). He's given the title box in question and it's a box that effectively lived up to its name because through this six episode miniseries, Kay was able to change his size, time travel in dreams, fly and even communicate with rats and so on.

Of course having such a powerful box meant that bad guys also wanted it too. This was where Abner Brown (Robert Stephens) factored into the miniseries, keeping the box's original owner, Cole Hawlings (Patrick Troughton) captive, while actively pursuing the box.

As a baddie, there's a good boo hiss quality to Abner as a character. He's so outwardly nasty that it beggared belief that none of the authorities would listen to Kay when he tried to tell them about Abner being evil. We got to see Abner's cruelty towards several characters, including two who ended up betraying him at the worst possible moment.

As for the box itself, there's a moment where Kay travelled back in time to meet the original creator, who wasn't much help to him at all. By the end of this, Kay managed to rescue everyone he cared about, defeated Abner and went to Christmas mass and did some more flying about. 

- Episode titles are Where The Wolves Were Running, Where Shall The Nighted Showman Go?, In Darkest Cellars Underneath, The Spide In The Web, Beware Of Yesterday and Leave Us Not Little Nor Yet Dark.

- Cole was a Punch and Judy man but also was alluded to being Ramon Llull.

- The title sequence was very 1980s Doctor Who and the use of The First Nowell was a little chilling. 

- Chronology: Set during the Christmas of 1934. John Masefield's book came out in 1935.

The Box Of Delights is a certainly a good treat to watch for the first time over the Christmas period or even watch again if you haven't in a long time. For a first viewing, I quite liked it.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Fox And The Hound (1981)

 

Written by Larry Clemmons And Ted Berman And David Michener And Peter Young And Burny Mattinson And Steve Hulett And Earl Kress And Vance Gerry

Directed by Ted Berman And Richard Rich And Art Stevens

Tod: "Copper, you're my best friend."

Copper: "And you're mine too, Tod."

Tod: "And we'll always be friends forever. Won't we?"

Copper: "Yeah, forever."

I've been on a tiny bit of a Disney watch along and I have to admit that this movie in particular was a first time watch for me. I had heard of it but I had never watched it until recently and like many Disney movies from this era, I'm glad I did. 

Our story began with an abandoned red fox cub who would be named Tod (Mickey Rooney/Keith Mitchell) upon being adopted by Widow Tweed (Jeanette Nolan). Of course it was the wise owl, Big Mama (Pearl Bailey) who brought the two together and it's a rather sweet pairing.

On the other side, there was the hound himself - Copper (Kurt Russell/Corey Feldman). He was raised by Amos Slade (Jack Albertson) and fellow hunting dog, Chief (Pat Buttram). The latter was a bit exasperated with Copper while Amos was very into hunting foxes.

Thus leading to the conflict of interest. What happened when Tod and Copper actually met? Why, they only went and became friends, in spite of everyone else telling them that they were supposed to be natural enemies. However, they didn't let their friendship get derailed until both of them got older and circumstances changed their respective outlooks.

This film really does have a great focus on friendship and the one between Tod and Copper was lovely to watch. It's believable that we would get circumstances that would test that friendship while proving that friendship really can overcome the odds.

- There's a fun subplot with Dinky (Dick Bakalyan) and Boomer (Paul Winchell) try and failing to eat a caterpillar who eventually became a butterfly.

- In the novel the movie's based, Chief died but that didn't happen here of course.

- Standout music: Best Of Friends, A Huntin' Man and Goodbye May Seem Forever.

- Chronology: Years pass throughout the movie as both Tod and Cooper get older. We do get a nice glimpse of winter mid way.

The Fox And The Hound is a sweet tale about an unlikely friendship and overcoming the odds of two characters that everyone else wanted to be enemies. While the songs lack a punch compared to other movies, it's still a nice one to watch.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Foe (2023)

 

Written by Iain Reid And Garth Davis

Directed by Garth Davis

Hen (re Junior): "He doesn't really see me anymore. It's as if he's replaced me with someone else. I've lost those parts of who I am, or who I could be. And, I'm scared I won't ever get them back."

I have to confess, I watched this movie back in January and I found it to be an absolute misfire. I watched it again a few weeks ago out of curiosity and again, I found it to be a misfire. 

It's one of those films that on paper had a brilliant idea but with such a muddled execution, the whole thing fell apart. Then there's the lead actors themselves. Sometimes great chemistry isn't enough to salvage a movie. There's a lesson to be learned there.

Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal star as an American couple (their accents are decent) called Hen and Junior. They live on a remote farm and an encounter with a mystery man named Terrence (Aaron Pierre) had quite the detrimental effect on the couple.  

Mainly because Terrence was from an organisation called OuterMore and Junior ended up being replaced by an android version of himself. It's a version that Hen predictably ended up getting attached to that she ended preferring the android to her real life husband.

Add to the fact you had Terrence living with Hen and her husband's android duplicate, this became a rather messy dynamic for practically everyone involved. By the end of this movie, one Junior was permanently shut down and the other resumed a life of discontentment with Hen.

Again, this movie was confusing in parts and definitely longer than necessary. The chemistry between Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan, excellent as it is, it barely held it together. 

- The only other acting role in the movie was Jane Harber playing a news reporter.

- Lakeith Stanford was originally cast as Terrence before being replaced by Aaron Pierre.

- The film had a limited theatrical release before Amazon Prime released worldwide.

- Chronology: There's a two year time jump within the movie itself.

Foe is nicely shot, it has three leads who do their best with the ropey material but it's an absolute slog of a movie to get through and the ideas have been done better elsewhere. Not one I'd recommend.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of Pinocchio (1940)

 

Written by Ted Sears And Otto Englander And Webb Smith And William Cottrell And Joseph Sabo And Erdman Penne And Aurelius Battaglia

Directed by Ben Sharpsteen And Hamilton Luske And Bill Roberts And Norman Ferguson And Jack Kinney And Wilfred Jackson And T. Hee

Blue Fairy: "Now, remember, Pinocchio: be a good boy. And always let your conscience be your guide."

A couple of weeks ago, I watched the 2022 version of this movie but I realised that I hadn't reviewed the original, so I'm amending that right now. Yes, another childhood classic to go over.

You've got lonely toymaker Gepetto (Christian Rub) who carves himself a wooden boy named Pinocchio (Dick Jones). Pinocchio's brought to life by the Blue Fairy (Evelyn Venable) and talking cricket Jiminy (Cliff Edwards) had the unenviable task of being Pinocchio's conscience.

Of course for a newly brought to life puppet child, Pinocchio was a little eaaily led astray. There was dodgy cat and fox duo Honest John (Walter Catlett) and Gideon the Cat (Mel Blanc) who managed to get Pinocchio the fame he wanted by being an act in Stromboli's (Charles Judels) puppet show.

Even though Pinocchio managed to get away from Stromboli's horrible grasp, his penchant for lying and mischievous behaviour continued to bite him. It's amusing as he found his nose growing every time he lied, even with the Blue Fairy seemingly exasperated by him. 

There was also his encounter with the Coachman (Stuart Buchanan) on Pleasure Island. It's a horrifying sequence in which bad children found themselves turned into donkeys and the very thing that set Pinocchio on the straight and narrow.

The last act of the movie of course involved being eaten by a whale where Pinocchio reunited with Gepetto. The whale being called Monstro (Thurl Ravenscroft) and a sneeze being the thing to free everyone. As for Pinocchio, his quest to become a real boy ended exactly how you'd expect to end but it's earned.

- Gepetto also had a cat and a fish called Figaro and Cleo, who weren't in the original story.

- None of the actors are credited for the movie. 

- Standout music: When You Wish Upon A Star, Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee and Ive Got No Strings.

- Chronology: Late 19th Century Italy.

Pinocchio is a tale about one's conscience and humanity, all through the prism of a live puppet learning about both with harsh lessons along the way. It's effectively done with a decent soundtrack and a slew of different obstacles. The Coachman remains one of the most terrifying villains though.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Lion King (1994)

 

Written by Irene Mecchi And Jonathan Roberts And Linda Woolverton

Directed by Roger Allers And Rob Minkoff

Simba: "Oh, I just can't wait to be King."

It's been a good thirty years since the release of this movie. In that time we've had straight to DVD sequels/prequels, a live action reboot (on my list to review this month) and a live action prequel also about to hit cinemas this month. Okay, not a unique situation for a Disney movie.

Anyways, this movie was something I loved as a child and every single often, I find myself coming back to as an adult. The movie itself opened with the birth of Simba (Matthew Broderick/Jonathan Taylor Thomas) with both parents Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and Sarabi (Madge Sinclair) being proud of their new addition.

Of course Simba's a bit of a boisterous cub, causing exasperation to his father's majordomo Zazu (Rowan Atkinson) but also Simba had a friend and future mate with fellow cub Nala (Moira Kelly/Niketa Calame). Yes,Simba had a flair for mischief and an uncle named Scar (Jeremy Irons) who was more than eager to use that to his advantage.

Now we've seen Disney villains being mean and murderous all the time but for some reason, when it's Scar, it felt that bit worse. Recruiting hyenas Shenzi (Whoopi Goldberg), Banzai (Cheech Marin) and Ed (Jim Cummings) to help kill Mufasa along with also trying to get rid of Simba. Yes, Scar felt that tiny bit more evil than other villains when in reality he's about the same.

Of course it does boil down to the performance and the calculated way in which Scar made Simba believe that the latter was responsible for Mufasa's death. Simba's long exile did result in his friendships with Pumbaa (Ernie Sambella) and Timon (Nathan Lane) and those two are the absolute best friends anyone can have in a Disney movie.

Speaking of Scar, that confrontation between him and the adult Simba as the latter reclaims the pride that Scar took over and diminished was the best part of the movie. Scar's comeuppance was suitably dark, even with the movie ending on a brighter note with a new generation born into the pride.

- A character I liked a lot in this movie was Rafiki (Robert Guillaume), the Shaman of the Pride Lands.

- One of the few Disney movies ot based on an adaptation of sorts.

- Standout music: Circle of Life, I Just Can't Wait to Be King, Be Prepared, Hakuna Matata, and Can You Feel the Love Tonight.

- Chronology: An unspecified time in the Pride Lands of Tanzania.

The Lion King would definitely be in my Top 5 of all time Disney movies. It's just a joy to watch from start to finish with a sympathetic young lead, a fantastically camp and menacing villain, great supporting characters and memorable songs. What more could you want?

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Les Miserables (2012)

 

Written by William Nicholson And Alain Boublil And Claude-Michel Schönberg And Herbert Kretzmer

Directed by Tom Hooper 

Gavroche: "This is the land that fought for liberty, now when we fight, we fight for bread... here is the thing about equality, everyone's equal when they're dead."

Yesterday, I looked at the epic misfire that was Cats, so as a counterbalance, I also went back to look at Tom Hooper's success with this musical adaptation. I really love this one.

Based on the Victor Hugo of the same name and the stage production, the film initially focused on the impoverished Fantine (Anne Hathaway), a single mother, trying to make ends meet in a factory. Jealous co-workers and an distant boss in Valjean (Hugh Jackman) see Fantine's life take a turn for the worst.

She's had to give up her daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen/Amanda Seyfried) to a horrible innkeeper couple, Thénardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) and was forced to sell herself on the streets. Brutish clients, sickness and the overzealous police inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) all added to Fantine's misery before dying.

As for Valjean, his history with Javert came to the forefront when he stepped up to adopt Cosette and while the two of them moved up in the world, Javert was adamant in his pursuit of justice. That was in spite of the new philanthropic role that Valjean has set up for himself.

The second half of the movie very much moved into the revolution side of things. There's a love triangle between Cosette, activist Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne) and the Thénardiers daughter, Eponine (Samantha Barks) during this, which does offer sympathy for the latter. 

Between betrayals, blackmails, executions and sacrifices from our remaining players, this last act of this movie was a triumph. There's certainly plenty of sad moments as well as happier ones with both Cosette and Marius by the end of this storming adaptation. 

- Several actors from previous stage productions such as Fra Free, George Blagden, Julian Bleach, Kate Fleetwood and Hannah Waddingham appeared in the movie.

- A lot of Fantine's characteristics came from Hugo's own encounter with a real life prostitute being accosted by a customer in public. 

- Standout music: Valjean's Soliloquy, I Dreamed A Dream, Master Of The House, Suddenly, On My Own, One Day More, Bring Him Home and The Final Battle.

- Chronology: 1815 to begin with as well as 1823 in Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais 1832 in Paris.

Les Miserables definitely was a triumph for Tom Hooper. He took the stage adaptation and managed to make it into a more accessible movie with some genuinely spellbinding performances from everyone on board. Easily my favourite musical adaptation and it's aged pretty damn good too.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Cats (2019)

 

Written by Lee Hall And Tom Hooper 

Directed by Tom Hooper 

Grizabella: "Touch me! It's so easy to leave me! All alone with the memory of my days in the sun. If you touch me, you'll understand what happiness is! Look, a new day has begun."

It's coming up to five years since this chaotic misfire of an adaptation was released and I cannot lie, it hasn't improved with time. Sometimes there are movies that are just fascinating disasters to watch. This would be one of them.

Taking Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical, giving to the same director who successfully brought Les Miserables to the big screen seven years prior and loading it with a star cast that included the biggest pop star on the planet. This had all the ingredients to be a massive success and yet the exact opposite happened. What went wrong?

For starters, the actual designs on the cats themselves certainly didn't help and maybe just maybe mainstream audiences weren't in the mood to see how freaky these particular felines could get. That I think covered the main reasons for this movie crashing as it did.

As for the story itself, you've got newcomer Victoria (Francesca Hayward). She got abandoned by her owners and soon came into contact with the Jellicle cats Mr. Mistoffelees (Laurie Davidson), Munkustrap (Robbie Fairchild), Cassandra (Mette Towley) and Demeter (Daniela Norman). They're preparing for the grand Jellicle Ball, which had a rather unique prize of being granted reincarnation.

Of course there was other cats vying for that prize including the like of Jennyanydots (Rebel Wilson), Rum Tum Tugger (Jason Derulo), Bustopher Jones (James Corden), Skimbleshanks (Steven MacRae) and the theatrical Gus (Ian McKellan). Also, Taylor Swift as Bombalurina in one of the worst performances from this movie. Sorry Swifties but you know I'm telling the truth here.

Yes there's a lot of cats in the movie and if the ones I mentioned weren't enough, there's also the villain of the piece, Macavity (Idris Elba), the disgraced Grizabella (Jennifer Hudson), both of whom are actually the highlights of this misguided venture. Them and of course Judi Dench's Old Deuteronomy, adding a little of gravitas to the whole debacle. 

The movie took big swings but mostly missed as the completion heated up and only one winner could ultimately get the prize while the villain revelled in being such a baddie. As for Victoria, she might have been abandoned by one family but she certainly gained another by the end of this movie.

- Other cats included troublesome duo Mungojerrie (Danny Collins), Rumpleteazer (Naoimh Morgan) as well as Growltiger (Ray Winstone) and Plato and Socrates (Les Twins).

- The CGI problems are horribly blatant in a lot of the scenes. 

- Standout music: Jellicle Songs For Jellicle Cats, Old Deuteronomy, Beautiful Ghosts, Macavity: The Mystery Cat and Memory.

- Chronology: A very wintry and magical London at night.

Cats truly was an epic misfire of a movie but as bad as it is, I can't help but find the whole thing fascinating as hell. It had everything in its favour that it should've been a triumph, yet it completely fell to pieces. It's a movie that will stay with you as a viewer but not for the reasons you'd want it to.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of Dune: Part Two (2024)

 

Written by Denis Villeneuve And Jon Spaihts

Directed by Denis Villeneuve 

Paul: "I am Paul Muad'Dib Atreides, Duke of Arrakis. The Hand of God be my witness, I am the Voice from the Outer World! I will lead you to PARADISE!"

Having watched both these movies days apart, I'm still not entirely as enamoured with this space saga as many others have been but I can admire the scale and ambition of this movie franchise.

From the previous movie, prophet Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) had managed to fall in with the Freman tribe and become allies with then in their quest to get back at those who betrayed their family. It was a quest that would inevitably bring out a much darker side to Paul.

Of course there was also the romance between Paul and Chani (Zendaya), the latter who was very much against prophecies and being controlled by destiny. I'll admit, it's a strong enough aspect of the movie with Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya giving it their best. However their romance also hit a major complication towards the end of this one.

When Chani wasn't brazenly defying destiny and disturbing customs, Paul found himself betrothed to Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh). Irulan was the daughter of Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken) and he was directly responsible for Paul's father being killed and House Atreides almost being taken off the map. 

With Paul and Chani somewhat at odds, one of the strengths of this movie would be the furthest expansion of the Bene Gesserit. The Reverend Mother (Charlotte Rampling) conspired while both Princess Irulan and Lady Margot Fenring (Lea Seydoux) were revealed as members. Lady Jessica underwent her own ascension within the ranks and even Paul got subjected to his own ascension to boot.

Then there was House Harkonnen. They somewhat paid for their attempts to dismantle the Atreides. This movie saw both the Baron (Stellan Skarsgard) and his nephew Rabban (Dave Bautista)  get taken down along with the odious Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler). The latter character was a delightful addition, though surprisingly not as prominent as I thought he would. He does however manage to get a decent confrontation with Paul before his demise.

- Anya Taylor-Joy appeared briefly through visions as Paul's unborn sister, Alia. She would be born in 10,191 A.G.

- It was revealed that Jessica was the Baron's daughter, making Paul cousins with both Rabban and Feyd-Rautha. The latter seemed amused by that revelation.

- To complete this trilogy, we'll be getting Dune: Messiah by 2026 (or more likely, 2027)

- Chronology: Not long from where the first part of the movie left off. 

I did slightly enjoy Dune: Part Two a little more than the first but I also found it overlong with certain parts almost dragging out too much. The new characters were interesting as was the way both Paul and Chani's relationship progressed and devolved throughout.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Creature Commandos: "The Tourmaline Necklace"

 

Written by James Gunn

Directed by Sam Liu

The Bride: "Sorry."

Nina: "Go. Fuck. Yourself."

Okay, this one was better and it had two bizarre sex scenes in it. It also had two brilliant fight scenes and a really fun exploration of The Bride Of Frankenstein to boot.

If the first episode was about setting up the team, then from this episode onwards, we're clearly getting the proper backstories for each member of Project M. First up, The Bride herself.

Yes, she was created by Victor Frankenstein (Peter Serafinowicz) in order to be the perfect partner for the more entitled Eric but she hated him on sight. Even worse for Eric was the Bride's love for Victor, so Eric ended up killing him and a centuries long feud between the Bride and Eric has been a thing ever since.

In the current day though when the Bride wasn't sniping at Nina and looking for the titular necklace, there was the issue of Circe. Yes, Circe knew how to make an entrance and the violent smackdown between Circe and The Bride was something to behold. The fight sequences in this show have been astounding so far.

By the end of the episode, Circe and her incel Sons of Themyscira losers had captured both The Bride and Nina. While that was happening, Flag Sr was getting more intimately acquainted with the Princess and Phosphorus was more aggrieved that he couldn't do anything right according to Flag Sr.

- This episode had G.I. Robot mistook Phosphorus for a Nazi. Phosphorus also seemed to understand Weasel.

- Circe hitting The Bride with an iron rod did remind me of something involving two other characters. 

- Yes, we got a sex scene between The Bride and Victor Frankenstein. 

- Chronology: The flashbacks spanned from 1831 to 1991 for The Bride and her attempts to get away from Eric.

The Tourmaline Necklace certainly added a newish spin to The Bride and Frankenstein while giving a series of excellent fight scenes to match. Overall, a stronger episode than the first one.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Creature Commandos: "The Collywobbles"

 

Written by James Gunn

Directed by Matt Peters

Amanda: "This is your new task force, Flag. Let's call it Project M. M for monster, also known as -"

It's been a year since the DC Extended Universe ended on an underwhelming note with Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom. Now its the DC Universe and we're off to something of an animated start with Creature Commandos. 

Depending on how you feel about The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, your mileage may vary with this show. It's very much within James Gunn's wheelhouse, for better and for worse. Also, it heavily references his works in the former DC continuity.

No longer able to use humans for her dangerous missions, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has enlisted Rick Flag Sr (Frank Grillo) to work with a monster squad. The squad being The Bride (Indira Varma), Weasel/G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn), Dr Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk) and Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao). Yup, it's very much within the Gunn wheelhouse so far.

Their mission involved the fictional European country of Pokolistan where the Princess Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova) needed protection from Circe (Anya Chalotra) and her insufferable Sons of Themyscira. Yay for one half of that villain team up. The quicker the second half become a livestock, the better.

While Circe's role wasn't as large in this one as hoped, we did have some moments with Flag Sr and the group in Pokolistan. There's some cringey flirting between Rick Sr and the Princess but a fight scene between the former and Phosphorus was actually a delight to watch.

Also a delight was G.I. Robot. His desire to kill Nazis to one side, there's a rather sweet potential romance with him and Nina bubbling under the surface. There was also The Bride heading back to the place she was born and with that, a rather creepy ending involving Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour).

- Weasel has killed 27 children but was largely treated like the group dog. G.I. Robot did think he was a Nazi at one point.

- Flag Sr became a father to the deceased Jr at 18 and gew to resent his ex-wife. 

- The title sequence, while not as good as Peacemaker did actually feature James Gunn in it.

- Chronology: Two years since the events of Project Starfish.

The Collywobbles does a decent job establishing the main characters, giving hints at each of their backstories. The weakest part was the Flag Sr/Princess subplot but other than that, a good start.

Rating: 7 out of 10