I’ve quickly gone from tolerating the inclusion of “AI” in a product to wanting to actively avoid it. The privacy implications alone are a nightmare.
Author Archives: Phil
Against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel's First Family is forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, while defending Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer.
Never been a big FF fan so I’m sure a lot of stuff in the margins was wasted on me but, overall, mostly unremarkable. Vanessa Kirby was memorably fierce and I liked the retro production design. Suffers again from feeling more like a bridge to something (ostensibly) big and better.
The JD Vance cameo also took me completely by surprise.
★★★½
Five friends set out for a weekend at a remote cabin in the woods, expecting nothing more than fun and relaxation. As night falls, they discover that something far more unsettling is at work and that nothing about their getaway is what it seems.
Marty and Doc are at it again as the time-traveling duo head to 2015 to nip some McFly family woes in the bud. But things go awry thanks to bully Biff Tannen and a pesky sports almanac. In a last-ditch attempt to set things straight, Marty finds himself bound for 1955 and face to face with his teenage parents -- again.
Quick survey: has anyone actually offered or accepted a position off the back of a #getfedihired hashtag?
A teenager's weekend at a lake house with her father takes a turn for the worse when a group of convicts wreaks havoc on their lives.
Some splatter but conveys no real sense of threat or peril. Fairly typified by Kevin James as a white suprematist who’s more Danny Ocean than Himmler…
★★
Written to my MP AGAIN. That’s twice in as many weeks. Same issue. I just despair.
As storm season intensifies, the paths of former storm chaser Kate Carter and reckless social-media superstar Tyler Owens collide when terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed. The pair and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.
There must be a term or phrase in some language that explains the critical consensus on this movie, along the lines of:
There were low expectations across the board but it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as expected and thus it was considered “good” but, on that basis, a new expectation is created, which has the opposite effect.
There must be a name for that, right? I could imagine it going in waves forever on this movie.
I’m going to tell you it’s really quite bad, with almost no redeeming features. The one thing that stands out is the intertwinned character arc of Kate and Tyler, which never quite goes the way you expect. And, actually, that’s probably worth at least half a star. And, to be fair, Glen Powell is very enjoyable too, maybe worthy of another half star?
★★½
Recently fired and desperate for work, a troubled young man named Mike agrees to take a position as a night security guard at an abandoned theme restaurant: Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. But he soon discovers that nothing at Freddy's is what it seems.
Very young teen friendly. Lacks any sustained tension or peril and there’s little injury detail. The story is straightforward, and if you’d told me it was based on a Stephen King short, rather than a video game, I’d believe you. It’s all pretty unremarkable.
But my 13yo enjoyed it and he’s the reason I watch it, so 👍
★★★
Turns out, I can put a number on the cost of Elon Musk’s “involvement” in UK “politics” during August 2024 and since… 4.3%. Yup. We’ve lost just 4.3% of Followers from the X account our not-for-profit uses since September 2024. It was going steadily down each month but now appears to have levelled off.
To put it another way, 95% of users don’t care what Musk does. So, now you know where you stand, I guess.