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The Sparks Brothers (2021)
The Sparks Brothers (2021)
2021 |
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
When I first saw the preview for The Sparks Brothers, I was instantly intrigued, and eagerly counted down until the release date, 18 June. Then, when I checked the showtimes, I realized it was not playing at the theaters that had advertised it, and I would have to drive 45 minutes to see it. As luck would have it, I got an email at 2PM on Thursday from Focus Features, inviting me to an online screening that started at 7PM that same day.
The band ‘Sparks’, sounded familiar, but I couldn’t exactly remember where I knew them from. I decided to go into the documentary film blind because I wanted to enjoy it. Many of the talking heads in this documentary were some of my favorite musicians, like Beck, Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand, and Nick Rhodes and John Taylor from Duran Duran.
The Sparks Brothers are Ron and Russell Mael, who seem to be notoriously elusive. Honestly, the entire time, I didn’t know if these guys were being serious, or just messing with everyone. The documentary takes you through the brothers’ early life, then their massive, five-decade career. Apparently, all my favorite bands were inspired by the Mael bros, so that’s probably why their music sounded vaguely familiar in the movie trailer.
This is Edgar Wright’s first documentary, and I liked his approach. I watch a lot of documentary films, and sometimes they’re really hit or miss. Wright’s was a hit for me. It ebbed and flowed naturally and kept me engaged for the entire runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes. The variety of talking heads was diverse, the brothers, musicians, actors, longtime fans, former producers and bandmates, as well as Wright himself, were all great contributors. I don’t think the Mael bros would have chosen to do a documentary with any other filmmaker, and that it was a true collaboration. It’s one of the best films I’ve seen this year, and I am so glad I got the invitation at the last minute.
  
65 (2023)
65 (2023)
2023 | Sci-Fi
6
6.8 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Driver is Heads and Shoulders above this material
Whoever decided to cast Adam Driver as an alien spaceperson (who looks and acts suspiciously like a 21st Century American) who crash-lands on prehistoric Earth and has to battle Dinosaurs equipped with only his alien technology (including his laser-blaster) is a GENIUS for Driver is EXTREMELY watchable in this film - the best thing (by far) in this so-so sci-fi/dinosaur mash-up.

The rest of the movie? Not so much.

Basically Jurassic Park with a spaceman twist, 65 (so named for the spaceman that crash lands on Earth at around 65 million years B.C. - just before the “dinosaur killing” asteroid hits the Earth) tells the tale of said Spaceman, MIlls (Driver) who crashes on Earth and (along with another survivor, Koa played by Ariana Greenblatt) must make their way across unfriendly, hungry Dinosaur territory to their escape ship and get off the planet before the asteroid hits.

You’ve seen the humans vs. dinosaur action before in all of the Jurassic Park films - so there’s nothing new here. Writer/Directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods put together a fairly standard “man vs. beast” action flick. It felt like that these two were playing with their Jurassic Park and Astronaut toys in their bedroom and this was the adventure they came up with.

The differentiator in this film is the performance of Driver who puts his all into his portrayal of Mills as he (mostly) silently, but professionally, makes his way across hostile territory to gain access to rescue. Driver (who I don’t think has ever given a bad performance) is head and shoulders above the material here and he, alone, is worth spending an hour and a 1/2 of your time on this film.

Roll your eyes at the Dinosaur action, marvel at the Adam Driver performance.

Letter Grade: C+ (Driver “A”, the rest of the film “D”)

6 stars (out of 10) - and that’s being generous - and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)
  
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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) in Movies

Jul 2, 2019 (Updated Dec 27, 2019)  
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
2019 | Action, Sci-Fi
The future is bright for the MCU
Contains spoilers, click to show
Far From Home is in a tricky position, coming out a couple of months after Avengers Endgame, having to deal with the fallout out of the Infinity story arc, and also having to follow up a great first entry into the MCU Spider-Man franchise, and it's does a damn fine job.

Tom Holland continues to be a near perfect Peter Parker, and he's surrounded by a charming cast - Zendaya is great as MJ, Jon Favreau is always welcome as Happy, and Samuel L. Jackson does his usual broody Nick Fury, this time going up against the more cooky humour of Peters classmates, and it all works - the humour all lands for the most part (and as Curb Your Enthusiasm fan, I couldn't help but enjoy JB Smoove).

But the shining star in Far From Home is of course Jake Gyllenhaal. His portrayal of Quentin Beck/Mysterio is great - watching him go from a sad and scarred man, looking to save the world and be Peters friend, to the eventual (and of course expected) reveal that he's actually a calculating-genius-maniac is pretty great.

The set pieces to begin with are standard Marvel fun, but the first time Spider-Man goes head to head with Mysterio and his illusions is ok another level (zombie Iron Man anyone!?) - it feels lifted straight from the comics, and is a visual treat, knocking down Doctor Strange in terms of crazy hallucinating sequences. It's perfect!

It's also a lovely touch just how much Tony Stark has to do in this film - his character may be gone but his presence is constant throughout.
And to top everything off - the first post credit scene includes a unexpected come back that made me grin from ear to ear, and then the second one, well that was just nuts - needless to say, I'm truly excited for what comes next in the MCU.

Far From Home is fun, visually thrilling, with great cast, and for me, is up there with the top tier MCU films.
  
Even Serpents Shine by The Only Ones
Even Serpents Shine by The Only Ones
1979 | Punk
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

No Solutions by The Only Ones

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"""Rather than going into the technicalities about them as a band, with The Only Ones it’s more about what it says about me as a teenage fan. I went to a lot of places to watch them, I slept in at least two bus shelters and on the kitchen floor of someone I didn’t know once. Sometimes I’d have tickets and sometimes I’d sneak in to see them and not just in the North, I came down to London and saw them at Dingwalls and The Lyceum. “Peter Perrett was feminine, and if you were a real fan of The Only Ones he had this thing where you’d almost imagine him as a really cool older brother who you didn’t know, that was the way I used to look at him. He led the gang, but he was small and I was small, and he got really involved when he played and that’s the thing, they were a really tight, great rock band. In a way he was almost like my Syd Barrett, he had a very poetic aspect to him. I was already well into studying what the rules of being a bohemian were about and he was it really. “John Perry was an amazing guitar player. Even then, when I was really learning my thing, I was aware it sounded exactly like a Jimi Hendrix lick crossed with a Jeff Beck lick from The Yardbirds, he was of that generation, probably a second generation Marquee, Wardour Street guitar player. They had a really fantastic drummer too, Mike Kellie from Spooky Tooth. They were a great ensemble and I knew they were really rehearsed and it really mattered to them. Peter Perrett never turned up like some druggy mess. “‘No Solution’ is a lesser known one, everybody knows ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’, but it’s the fan in me turning people onto one I think they’ll like but might not know. Fans of The Only Ones will know this song, but when I say fans I’m talking about the people in the audience, I think there were only five of them and I’m probably the only one still left alive!"""

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    "My most indispensable app is my guitar tuner, Cleartune. None of the old visual or analog tuners...

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
2019 | Action, Sci-Fi
Director: Jon Watts
Writer: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers (Screenplay) Steve Ditko, Stan Lee (Comic Book)
Starring: Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhaal, Zendaya, Samuel L Jackson, Jon Favreau, Angourie Rice, Jacob Batalon, Tony Revolori
 
Plot: Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man must step up to take on new threats in a world that has changed forever.
 
Runtime: 2 Hours 9 Minutes
 
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
 
Verdict: An Entertaining Jumble
 
Story: Spider-Man Far from Home starts when Peter Parker (Holland) and his classmates MJ (Zendaya), Ned (Batalon), Flash (Revolori) and others head off to Europe for a scientific school trip, Peter’s plan is to finally tell MJ how he feels, but things don’t go to plan.
Peter finds himself recruited by Nick Fury (Jackson) to help new superhero Quentin Beck known as Mysterio (Gyllenhaal) fight a new threat that is attacking cities in Europe, trying to decide if he is ready to tackle the added responsibility of being a superhero.
 
Thoughts on Spider-Man Far from Home
 
Characters – Peter Parker has two main storylines going on in this film, one side of him is the high school student that wants to tell the girl he likes his feeling, nervous and social awkward. The second one sees him facing the reality that he was hand picked to step up and help save the world, a decision which sees him wanting to just take a break from. Watching Peter balance the two is interesting because the high school one was the weaker side, the superhero side is very interesting to follow. Nick Fury is also adapting to life after the snap, where he isn’t in the same level of control on everything going on in the world, he wants Peter to come and work for him and doesn’t like being told no. They did try to recapture certain elements of the chemistry he had with Captain Marvel too. Quentin Beck is the new superhero dubbed Mysterio because of his powers and ability to defeat the elementals that have started attacking the major cities, he offers Peter a chance to discuss his position with having powers like nobody else has since Tony’s death. MJ is the girl of Peter’s dreams, she is very different to both versions of MJ we have seen before, being very distant to the rest of the class, but always manages to capture Peter watching her.
Performances – Tom Holland does do a very good job in the leading role, if it was just the high school side of the film, he does struggle at times, but it is the human effect of being a superhero that completely makes you believe what he is going through. Samuel L Jackson does what we expect from him in a supporting role, as does Zendaya who does everything without standing out. Jake Gyllenhaal though, he was a joy to watch especially in the second half of the film, he just takes his role and runs with it.
Story – The story here follows Peter Parker on his high school trip that gets interrupted to help try and save the world from a new threat, testing him to see if he is ready to replace Iron-Man. This like the character of Peter Parker can be broken down into two simple positives and negatives, the high school trip stuff, is there, most of it gets pretty boring quickly, it is here to help show a human life that he could have though. The superhero side of the story is the highlight because it does get to show how the once confident Peter is starting to question if he is ready to step up after seeing the consequences to what has happened to people in their lives. The villain is a surprise and while I won’t get into details, it is very entertaining to watch and could be one of the best they have bought to a stand alone film.
Action/Sci-Fi – The action in this film is brilliant to watch, it blends with the special effects and doesn’t turn into anything as ridiculous as it could be when you see the fights. The sci-fi element of the film does address the dangers of technology being in the wrong hands once again, but it all works for the story being shown here.
Settings – The film gives us the basic European settings, we have Venice, Prague, Berlin and London, you know well know locations that have large populations which could get destroyed.
Special Effects – The effects in the film did seem flawless, we do have large scale, dust, water and fire monsters used for battles which all look like they could be real along with certain twists in the story which only add to the effects.

Scene of the Movie – What is real?
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Most of the high school stuff.
Final Thoughts – This is a real mixed bag of a superhero movie, it could have been fantastic, only it gets too carried away dealing with the high school world which does drag things down.
 
Overall: Entertaining enough.
Rating
  
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Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) in Movies

Oct 11, 2020 (Updated Jan 22, 2021)  
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
2019 | Action, Sci-Fi
I’m sure I wasn’t alone in the Summer of 2019 when Spider-Man: Far From Home was released in just needing a minute or two, maybe a couple of months, longer to catch my breath after Avengers: Engame, and what very much felt like an ending to the MCU plan that had been in motion since 2008. That climax was so satisfying and complete that the thought of any of them donning the costume and fighting bad guys again so soon felt wrong.

I wasn’t against the survivors having continued adventures, of course not. It was more a question of where do we go from here? And how? Well, perhaps Tom Holland as the youngest and most emotionally resilient of the bunch was the right choice to continue the universe, if any at all. Knowing that Jake Gyllenhaal had been brought onboard certainly added to the appeal, being one of my very favourite actors of the last decade (together with Ryan Gosling and Joaquin Phoenix), but I had made up my mind to skip this one at the cinema.

And so, before any of us knew where we were, it was Spring 2020 and we were all in a different place. Needing films, any films, to fill out the days of lockdown and isolation became a case of make a list and tick them off. This was one of those that made the shortlist around June when I began the trial month of Now TV and discovered that this was where all the big films of the last year I had missed were hiding.

I liked Spider-Man: Homecoming very much, after some initial trepidation over who the heck Jon Watts was, and why he had been trusted with such a big job out of seemingly nowhere? I also really like Tom Holland in the role. I think the idea of making him seem like a naive teenager again is a masterstroke, and he fast became The real Spider-Man in my head. His relationship with Robert Downey Jnr across the last handful of MCU films was rich, genuine and fully rounded, and Holland has managed to pitch the balance between nervy teen and likeable hero quite deftly.

The charm of the first film from Watts was how much it felt like a teen film, full of teens that were actual teens, not adults pretending to be teens. And in this second instalment that element is even more to the fore. It is a travelling road movie that keeps everything fresh and energetic, not giving a moment to dwell despondently on previous events, but looking forward to a bright, hopeful world, full of romance and adventure and discovery.

Other than Holland himself, who grows in stature and maturity as an actor every minute, the rising star of Zendaya as MJ fills the screen very pleasantly, she has a great aura about her for one so young. I am expecting great things from her, especially in the upcoming yet delayed Dune, directed by Denis Villeneuve. She doesn’t have a lot to do here, but steals enough scenes to hint at a serious talent. In fact, most of his classmates seem beyond their years ability-wise, or do they seem that way because of the skilled direction and bottomless production?

It’s also nice to get more time with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Marisa Tomei as Aunt May in this one. You always do wonder what the lesser characters have been up to while everyone else was saving the world. But the backbone of the film as a spectacle is the Peter Parker / Quentin Beck face off. Every moment of Holland and Gyllenhaal together feels like a huge movie treat. And knowing nothing about who Quentin Beck was going in from comic book lore, I got a real thrill out of how it all develops.

I came away from my small screen experience of this movie thinking that I had really enjoyed it, but in a very disposable way, that I was happy to leave behind almost instantly. Nothing about it is especially deep or meaningful, just fun! And that was 100% what Marvel needed at this junction in the pantheon. These guys are pretty smart at knowing when and why and how much with these movies, and I’m pleased to say they did it again!

There is some serious work to be done to ever reach the heights of interest generated by the final pairing of Avengers films, and a lot has changed, as it must, as some actors age, some even pass away (RIP CB) and some call it a day. But if nothing else, there feels like there is plenty of mileage left in this incarnation of the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, and a lot of new fans to be hauled in by the onscreen romance between Tom Holland and Zendaya’s MJ. Older fans, like me, could maybe care less, but I believe that is the hook to ensure a future generation of fans stay loyal to Marvel. Every hero needs someone to save, after all. I’m still watching.