Friday I’m In Love by The Cure
The Cure · Wish · Song · 1992
Author Archives: Phil
Ray Ferrier is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son and young daughter for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.
I liked this a lot more, and it “worked” a lot better, in those years post-9/11. Most notably the powerlessness of the US military and the expansive threat to the average person.
However, I’m not sure we really meet an average person in this. It’s extremely Cruise-centric and thus Ray has an air of invincibility. This is so pronouced you never really feel like Ray might be in danger. Maybe that’s a good thing as it helps focus our concerns on his children, in the same way Ray begins to.
But it is refreshing that when we first meet Ray he’s a more than a bit of a dick. He’s superficial and highly priviledged (in his own way). We gradually see that stripped away and Cruise totally sells it. However, it’s not anything we haven’t come to expect from him, so…
★★★
When single mom Callie and her two kids Trevor and Phoebe arrive in a small Oklahoma town, they begin to discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind.
I liked a lot about it but it all felt very “safe”. Did not, however, ruin my childhood.
★★★
An American sniper and his spotter engage in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with an Iraqi sniper.
There are many great war films and this isn’t one of them. This movie has nothing to say about, well, anything. Unless… unless it’s US grunts are actually pretty dumb and “the baddies” are much smarter than other movies might lead you to believe…
The most notable moment in the whole film was when he opened the Skittles, and they were all smooshed into one sticky pancake. I fully expected him to roll some out onto his hand like a TV ad.
It was OK, though. I’ve docked half a star for the awful ending, which neither delivers a satisfying conclusion nor is very well executed.
★★½
Husband and wife Gabe and Adelaide Wilson take their kids to their beach house expecting to unplug and unwind with friends. But as night descends, their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some shocking visitors arrive uninvited.
This review may contain spoilers.
It takes some skill to telegraph a twist in the first ten minutes and still deliver revelations 2 minutes before the credits and, in fact 30 minutes after the credits, when you’re trying to write your review…
★★★★ (contains spoilers)
In the town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock can speak to the dead, but no one other than his eccentric new friend believes his ability is real. One day, Norman's eccentric uncle tells him of a ritual he must perform to protect the town from a curse cast by a witch centuries ago.
Started off well enough but it seemed more interested in putting the boot into hypocritical US values, then telling a good story.
Also, isn’t this basically the same plot as Netflix’ Fear Street trilogy?
★★★
The Bafta winner speaks about his new show and why young people are getting interested in folklore.
I like to think of it as a backlash against commercial and globalisation. It’s a popular refrain from the right that we’ve lost our British identity. I’m not sure which identity that is, though, and people that say it also seem to struggle to define it. Presumably an ideal from some point in the 19th century, when “red tape” and “wokeness” didn’t stop people making money. I can understand why reaching back before the “Age of Discovery” for some shared identity would appeal to people.
I feel similarly with paganism and the import of Christianity. When you consider the population of the UK was already 75% immigrants circa 400-800 CE/AD and you consider that Stonehenge was completed circa 1600 BCE/BC, it’s tricky to track down your cultural heritage.
The only sane response to the trolley problem is to do nothing. If you can be (philosophically) responsible for deaths by inaction, then we’re all guilty of that anyway.
Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.
When we watched the trailer for this I did a little inward groan when I saw that Woody H was the antagonist. “Here we go, Tallahassee Mk 2…” but he was actually pretty good. The character also had a shade of complexity too, which is almost novel for a villain these days.
Still holds that deeply unsettling mirror up, though. Even in the apocalypse, we can’t get it together as a species.
★★★★
eBay sent me an email detailing things I could improve in the listing. Said the descrption was no good… their AI wrote it.