Watched Dune part 2 - the first part I thought was faithful to the book, feel, but part 2 seems to cut lots of bits add bits and change bits - some simple bits - it's Jessica who cries and gives tears for the dead not Paul and antagonism with Chanai. I know some bits need to be cut but felt mushed - maybe needed to be 3 parts not 2, just felt the balance was wrong.

As someone who has also read the book, I never got the hate for David Lynch's version. And whilst I enjoyed the Villeneuve films, they just felt like longer versions of that (with some changes just for the sake of it). 

In the Land of Saints and Sinners. A very surprising new thriller on Netflix. Liam Neeson is a hitman in a bit of bother, and what's surprising is that there are no tired lines about his special set of skills, and it's actually not bad! Who'da thought?

It's the troubles, and IRA feckers on the run led by wonderfully potty-mouthed Kerry Condon, who steals the show, hole up in the same neck of the woods as Liam, in 'I've just had enough and want to plant a garden and flirt with my lovely neighbour' mode. It's interesting (though not surprising) that he's the one you want to come out on top despite him being every bit the baddy that the  'baddies' are. He reminds us he can be quite good (but not great) when he's choosier about scripts. It's not entirely without cliché (every pub scene has someone fiddly-diddlying in the corner, and of course he's a hitman who wants out) but the cast of familiar Irish actors is uniformly good (Ciaran Hinds, Colm Meaney, Niamh Cusack, and Jack Gleeson, the kid who retired after doing Joffrey in Game of Thrones and now looks like he's going to break out into 'Teenage Kicks' any second). And it's worth saying again, Kerry Condon is great.

Land of Bad. Popped up on Prime and I just wanted a simple action flick. Lived up to that, and it passed an enjoyable two hours. Maximus Crowe is an embittered drone pilot, and To-be Witcher an out of his depth soldier behind enemy lines when a special forces op goes a tad sideways. Good effects, and an interesting juxtaposition between the lives of the fighting men and the drone peeps back at base.

Posted by: @shteve

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Land of Bad. Popped up on Prime ...

The trailer interrupted Clarkson's Farm last night and it looked terrible.

But thanks for that review I'll probably give it a go.

Godzilla x Kong - The New Empire. A clear case of kaiju appropriation and further proof that American Godzilla films are... well, shit. Godzilla stomps around on the earth, Kong stomps around inside it (really). Other big monsters appear and join in. That's about as much plot as there is. And the title doesn't even make sense. Is it Godzilla 'ex' Kong or Godzilla 'times' Kong, as in 'kaiju squared'? I suspect the latter, since before the end of the predictable barrage of digital destruction you'll begin to appreciate just what eternity is; if you make it to the end you'll feel as if a brick wall has been battering your brain for a month. It's an incomprehensible atrocity that exists only to extend a franchise. The only plus I can accuse it of is that Rebecca Hall (an underrated actress who, I hope, laughed all the way to the bank) really suits her short haircut.

Godzilla Minus One. The most recent Japanese monster masher (it shouldn't be any surprise) is much better - but they have been doing them for 70 years now. I think the rave reviews it seems to be getting universally aren't quite merited, unless you compare it to Godzilla x Kong, next to which it's the best thing to come out of cinema ever. Operating on a fraction of the American budget, this one has a recognizable plot and characters, and action on a more intimate scale. I haven't read up on it but the big feller himself does still appear to be a man in a suit, just a much more complex, cgi-enhanced suit that looks fantastic. It at least appears to give some weight to the effects, and it isn't really until the nautical finale, with wholly unconvincing ships, that it goes all weightless and digital. It's dumb and cheesy as hell of course, but in the good way that still entertains you without the feeling that the people who made it think you're  a moron. I don't know what the title means, but since they've made about 5000 Godzilla films so far they're probably starting to run short of ideas in that department.

And this ^^ one - Godzilla Minus One - is now on Netflix.

With my recovery from surgery, I've realised I haven't seen the majority of the MCU films (though have all the TV series).

First one on the list: The Avengers (2012).

Early thoughts, everyone's so young... and there's the Capt. America meme! More to follow.

Under Paris. Turd of the year so far, stinking up a Netflix near you. It's hard to believe that a film about sharks at loose in the Seine just before a mass triathlon swim wouldn't be great fun, but they managed it. Or they sort of did, because it's definitely in the 'so bad it's funny' camp from the halfway mark, before that it's just bad. The only times you'll enjoy this is when you laugh at how inept it is - which, thanks to the undisputed worst cgi of the year, will be quite often. I had a good few belly laughs laughing at the digital effects, they're effortlessly funnier than most comedies.

Some marine expert or other witnesses her team being eaten in the ocean, and is traumatised, you see, for the rest of the film. We know she's traumatised because she wears only one expression - the one that says 'I think I left the gas on at home'. It's not only the cgi that makes it bad; ugly digital photography, generically bad music, no characterisation, overall incoherence and rampant cliche all contribute. Activists who know where the shark is won't tell the authorities, because they're activists, and therefore have things like blue hair, dreads and lesbianism. The mayor doesn't want to know because, well, there's a big triathlon swim coming up, and she struts around in a power suit. All underwater sequences are plainly done in tanks. And weightless cgi sharks aren't scary, so there are no thrills. The humour goes into overdrive at the end when the plot (if that's what they call it) reaches far, far beyond the special effects budget. It is without any doubt a festering pile of amateurish garbage... and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see an 'Under London' or 'Under Tokyo' next year.