Ralph Breaks the Internet

Posted on September 2, 2019 by Craig M

Viewed – 31 August 2019. DVD

I remember enjoying the first movie. Wreck It Ralph was a great idea, borrowing it must be said, from Pixar’s Monsters Inc yet not quite reaching the potential of its rather brilliant concept. However it delivered first-rate turns from John C Reilly as Donkey Kong inspired video game villain ‘Ralph’ and Sarah Silverman as cute kart racer girl ‘Venelope’. So yeah, I was keen to see what (mis)adventured this likeable duo would get up to next. This brings forth the arrival of wi-fi connectivity to the little arcade that’s home to Ralph, Venelope amongst others (including Pacman, various Street Fighter characters and several more recognisable faces), and after an over-zealous gamer breaks Venelope’s arcade machine steering wheel, a quest to get a new one (from eBay no doubt) is undertaken, with the world wide web ripe for exploration.

I found this built perfectly on the foundations set up in the first movie and delivered exactly what a sequel should … bigger and better. The animation is top-notch and I’ll go as far as to say its sone of the most lush, imaginative and personality-filled CGI I’ve ever witnessed. With the looming shadow of Pixar’s Toy Story 4, any hype for this seemed to get brushed under that carpet at time of release, which is a travesty as in many ways this is the superior movie. Ralph & Venelope are a great double-act and although the story is mostly focused on the plucky racer-girl’s journey of self discovery, Ralph still gets many of the best gags and a brilliant final act (hint…one Ralph is never enough!). The clever mickey-takes and references of the internet and especially of Disney themselves are also well-observed and often laugh out loud funny. The Disney Princesses scene is pure gold.

However the story isn’t exactly all that on paper, but its exploration of a developing friendship is poignantly observed none the less. Yet Disney’s obsession with forcing feminist propaganda into every movie these days raises its head again in the closing moments, but it’s at least more subtle than Avengers: Endgame. Tiny gripes aside though, this was great fun and one of the best animated movies of the year.

Verdict: 4 /5

Glass

Posted on June 14, 2019 by Craig M

Viewed – 11 June 2019 DVD

I was on the fence about this. I liked but didn’t love Split, and having watched Unbreakable a while back and feeling mixed about it … I wasn’t exactly jumping to watch M Night Shyamalan’s somewhat forced-feeling shared world third entry.

This picks up not long after the end of Split and introduces us to a psychiatrist who brings the three main characters together in an institute to try and convince them that they’re not special or super human. The concept is certainly interesting and brings a realism to it that works well to explore the idea of superheroes in the real world. Unlike last time, James McAvoy’s multi-personality character is far more explored and I grew very impressed by the performance and when ‘the beast’ personality was in full-throttle I was getting Wolverine vibes from the guy who currently plays Doctor X! Bruce Willis is good but is a little overshadowed by McAvoy and of course Samuel L. Jackson who surprisingly steals the show for a character who doesn’t speak a word for a good portion of the movie.

There’s times when the world-building gets a bit convoluted and a final twist whilst welcome also threw up its own questions. Yet for me, this is certainly the best of the trilogy and creates plenty of potential for further movies if Shyamalan cares to pursue the idea. So I went from initially dismissive of this to actually surprised and impressed. Recommended.

Verdict: 4 /5

My 2017 – a look back (part one)

Posted on December 16, 2017 by Craig M

I think at least as far as entertainment is concerned its been a pretty good year. There’s been ups and downs as there is every year, disappointments and resounding successes. So I thought I’d do a look back and therefore have decided to split this into two posts over the next week or so … leading up top my annual Top Ten of the Year on 31 December (please check back for that).

January to June

The year started off rather interestingly, with the absolutely nutty The Greasy Strangler … a movie I had heard a lot about. The eventual experience was a bit ‘wtf?’ and remains probably the oddest, most out-there movie I’ve seen all year, and not in a good way. The biggest let down though of the month (and year) was undeniably Trainspotting 2. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this trapped-in-the-past, albeit entertianing sequel delivered nothing to either repeat the gritty cool of the original or offer anything new. It’s not a terrible movie but it just had very little to warrant it’s existence.

One of my favourite gadgets this year has been my iPad Air 2 which I picked up in January, and use regularly for so many things…other than my phone (which I’ll get to in party two) it’s been my go to gadget of choice. Hell or High-water was a particular highlight and a solid robbers on the lam sort-of western with two great performances from Chris Pine and Ben Foster, even if I thought Jeff Bridges was a little over-hyped.

Deepwater Horizon was a great disaster movie based on real events with a stand out turn from the always enjoyable Mark Wahlberg. February was also when I played the return-to-form latest entry in one of my favourite gaming franchises: Resident Evil 7. One of the few games this year I saw through to the end, but this gripping, at times genuinely frightening and action-packed game truly put the franchise back on track. Around this time I began to deep dive further into music having subscribed to Apple Music and I have discovered some really great artists this past year, which started out with Tegan and Sara as well as Chvrches, PVRIS, Royal Blood and many more (I’ll be covering my music highlights more in part two).

March delivered one of my firm favourite movies of the year, the Korean zombie horror Train to Busan, which was a brilliantly executed thrill-ride with great characterisation and top-notch production values. Look out for it in my end of year Top Ten. March also delivered more highlights in the form of the enjoyable if a tad over-hypoed Doctor Strange, as well as the charming and touching A Street Cat Named Bob. However the good times had to come to an abrupt stop in the surprisingly poor Kong: Skull Island which offered some truly awful characters, only saved slightly by some fun monster smack down action. What Tom Hiddleston was doing in this is anyone’s guess though. Thankfully it was only a short-lived blip as I then got to see another favourite of the year, Logan – with a career defining performance by the often underrated Hugh Jackman. If you haven’t seen this one yet … remedy that immediately – it’s really that good.

The end of March also saw me pick up what has been a really worthwhile purchase this year, the Nintendo Switch! As with any Nintendo console, it was a bit of a risk. Gamecube failed after only a short run, the Wii was a major success but lacked games, and well I didn’t bother with the Wii U. Thankfully with games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Steamworld Dig 2 and Super Mario Odyssey it’s been the games console I’ve played the most in 2017 without a doubt.

April was the month this blog reached it’s 10 year anniversary. Wow…had it really been that long? I’m not popular, what I discuss on here is a crowded field to say the least, and standing out is difficult. However let it be said I still very much enjoy expressing myself on here and appreciate every visitor, every like and every comment when I get them. Thank you to all who stop by!

Despite being one of my favourite actresses, Scarlett Johansson’s much anticipated Ghost in the Shell, whilst entraining didn’t turn out to be all that it could have been despite some great visuals. However Tom Hanks delivered a solid performance as always in the based on true events Sully. I also recently started getting back into the highly-imaginative world of Persona 5 (released in April) which is unique and cleverly done, despite some typical Jap-RPG gameplay trappings. Suppose all that Switch goodness proved a distraction this year and there’s many games I need to also go back to.

In May I saw more highlights of the year, firstly the highly entertaining (if not quite as refreshing) Guardians of the Galaxy 2 boasting some great turns especially from Kurt Russell. Then the Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal vehicle Nocturnal Animals was also an interesting take on a relationship drama that struck a cord and proved powerful and clever. Yet the over-hyped and generally rather tiresome La La Land was a huge disappointment with a lack of memorable songs for a musical and bland characterisation despite featuring a great cast.

As June rolled around I finally managed to see the highly acclaimed Hacksaw Ridge and came away humbled and suitably impressed. It was a very different approach for a war movie but director Mel Gibson and star Andrew Garfield nailed it. Following this possibly the best comic book movie of the year was released; Wonder Woman. Gal Gadot was born to play this roll and with a great dirty-dozen meets fish out of water storyline I really had a great time with this one. I also got around to watching bullet fest sequel John Wick: Chapter 2 which although simply more of the same was still pretty damn good and well, who doesn’t enjoy Keanu Reeves obliterating bad-guys?

June also saw the annual videogame convention ‘E3’ arrive which promised a great deal from the three big gaming giants Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo and highlights included the reveal of the Xbox One X, more footage of the highly-anticipated Super Mario Odyssey and Sony’s God of War amongst many more. It was a pretty exciting time to be a gamer and 2017 was only to prove itself as a classic year in gaming history.

Well, that’s it for part one of this look back. Phew, it’s been a pretty packed year when looking back and there’s plenty more to come. Look out for Part Two this time next week!

Craig’s Movie Report 10th Anniversary

Posted on April 9, 2017 by Craig M

Has it really been that long? Today marks this blog’s 10th anniversary since my very first post. I may not be all that popular compared to other blogs and I suppose my blog’s subjects are not that unique to grab a big audience, and well I don’t pay for advertisers to help boost my views either. Yet I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy writing this bog, sharing my opinions and what’s going on in my life. I hope whomever takes the time to read anything I post, takes something away from it, either interest for a movie they had been wanting to see, discovering a movie they may not have previously been aware of, or just enjoy my writing style and what I have to say.

A big thank you goes out to regular readers and subscribers for your continued support. I may be a small-time blogger but I’m dedicated and I appreciate every comment and view and like that I receive. Keep coming back and I’ll keep posting. Don’t forget you can also find me on Twitter and Facebook (<<< click) which you can also find on the panel to your right >>>

Here’s to the next ten years!

Craig.

Grimsby

Posted on November 30, 2016 by Craig M

Viewed – 28 November 2016 DVD

aka The Brothers Grimsby

For starters, you don’t watch a Sacha Baron Cohen movie unless you have a pretty broad sense of humour. Luckily I do and really stupid, often crude comedies tickles my funny bone almost every time. This latest effort sees him as a local Grimsby guy, who lives on a housing estate, has an army of kids, gets drunk down the pub with his mates – you get the picture. However ‘Nobby’ hasn’t seen his younger brother for over twenty years, following a stint in an orphanage as children, and is surprised to bump into him during a day trip to London. However said brother, played by Mark Strong is now a deadly spy on a top secret mission – of which Nobby interrupts and causes all manner of calamity.

It’s a brilliant premise and one that Baron Cohen takes to with vigour. He’s a seriously gifted comedy actor and this latest creation, whilst not a huge leap from his Ali G persona is brilliantly observed and the idea makes for plenty of spot on gags and very funny encounters … especially if like I said, you have a liking for utterly crude, juvenile humour. At times it all goes a bit too far (the elephant scene) and some situations are just ridiculous, but with Baron Cohen’s enthusiasm, and a great supporting casting including Penelope Cruze, Ian McShane and Ricky Tomlinson … along with some actually very well implemented action sequences (football hooligan vs martial arts expert?) – I still got a kick out of this.

As far as a spy movie plot goes, it’s nothing special, but I did like how some jokes earlier on had even funnier pay-offs later. For fan’s of Sacha Baron Cohen this is a no-brainer, and for anyone after a good laugh, as long as you aren’t easily offended, I say check this one out immediately.

Verdict: 3.5 /5