Film of the Week: Spider-Man Far From Home

The prospect of a multiverse being introduced via this film was strongly hinted at within the trailers, mainly because the characters specifically mentioned Mysterio being from another Earth. However, in true Mysterio form, a multiverse was not to be seen as Quentin Beck was from this Earth and set about wanting to be the best superhero in the world using the technology he invented by Tony Stark took as his own.

Mysterio is a trickstar. He’s entire persona is built around deceiving people, so it makes sense to not have him from another Earth - it was all an act made possible by other former members of Tony Stark’s science division. Being the final film - the epilogue, if you will - of the Infinity Saga of the MCU, it was pleasing to feature those characters who were affected in the background come out into the spotlight and attempt to claim back what is rightfully theirs, or at least make a statement about what happened. Having one of the scientists from the very first Iron Man, the man who Obidiah Stane shouted at, “TONY STARK WAS ABLE TO BUILD THIS IN A CAVE, WITH A BUNCH OF SCRAPS!” Spider-Man Far From Home not only caps off the Infinity Ark storyline, but also acknowledges the past, sort of bringing it full circle. It didn’t rely heavily on setting up the future, because that wasn’t the intention. It was about rounding off a few plot points, explaining a couple of mysteries us fans had about the snap, and really just exploring a new, complicated world.

What would have been nice to have been left out of the trailer was M.J. figuring out Peter Parker was Spider-Man. It would have been a pleasant surprise for the audience, for someone, especially the love-interest to figure out he was Spider-Man. Whilst that trope is borderline cliche, it’s unique for a Spider-Man film as every other film sees him having no choice but to reveal his identity to who he loves in order to save them from the film’s main antagonist.

There are a few other surprises in this film, a couple of big reveals come right at the end and perfectly sets up the third film, which will explore a storyline that we haven’t seen in a Spider-Man film, and is synonymous to that of Iron Man’s storyline right at the very beginning, therefore strongly hinting at Spider-Man being the new face of the MCU - a notion that was questioned heavily by a few bombarding reporters right at the beginning of the movie. Understandably, the thought of being the new face puts an unbearable amount of pressure on Peter’s shoulders, something he wishes he can brush off for a limited time whilst on a school trip with his friends. Unfortunately, there is no resting for the neighbourhood superhero… whilst halfway round the world in Europe.

Visually, Spider-Man Far From Home is incredibly pleasing to the eye, with the way they play around with the holograms to not only give them the depth needed to fool the characters, but also for us audience to see the inner workings of Mysterio’s main objective - creating an Avenger’s level threat which he alone will defeat, which, as a result will become the greatest superhero in the world.

As for the Multiverse, Avengers Endgame sort of confirmed the existence of other universe by way of utilising their time travel. They create alternate timelines whilst roaming around in the past, literally creating multiple universes. But even before Endgame, Doctor Strange heavily hinted at a multiverse during that weird and wonderful trip Doctor Steven Strange took as a way to widen his eyes to what is truly possible. Having the trailers to Spider-Man Far From Home state that Quentin was from another Earth, whilst was exciting to actually meet someone who had made the transition from one world to another, certainly deserve the mild disappointment it received when it was revealed to be just a hoax designed to fool people.

However, the title to Doctor Strange’s sequel was recently revealed as: Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, so hopefully it’s finally fully explored then.

Spider-Man Far From Home was a fitting end to the Infinity Saga. It complimented Endgame’s complications by explaining how the world works now, and what effect it has on the characters, especially those closest to Tony Stark.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: The Proposal

The start of this film quite clearly sets up the reason that a basically, ‘Just getting married’ film of this nature was made. Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is a formidable woman in her career. Sadly, as in most cases there is always a chink in the armour. In this case she is a Canadian awaiting on immigration allowance to stay and work in the United States of America, ‘Add to this’ before her job is given to the person she has just fired. This is a ‘Needs must’ film with personality and blackmail, but she has some good points, an excellent script.

Now the tables have turned, it is good to see Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) find his voice, as he now holds all the cards. You can see the power rise that he has now.

Well, Andrew and Margaret have now arrived in Alaska for the weekend. To say a ‘Fish out of water’ is an understatement. The power continues and there is nothing like a party to put on a performance to. Another great script it really hooks you in, including the bed time routine, subtle but realistic.

Who said Alaskan life isn’t uneventful? They shouldn’t. it is nice to see Andrew wants to swap Alaska for New York, but this is unfortunate for his father.

Well you could call it a hen night off sorts. This is fun but not for the ‘Bride to be’ to watch.

It is nice to see the human side of Margaret, it is nice to see Margaret and Andrew actually talking or what could be classed as loosely singing, this is amusing to hear.

This film high-lights that no matter how much of a cold career woman you are, you cannot escape the real you.

I’m not sure if getting back to nature in the way that Margaret did was what Grandma Annie (Betty White) had in mind, but it is catchy and fun to watch.

When you are planning a ‘Marriage of convenience’ the film high-lights the emotional effects it has on a family. It is good to see this balanced outlook. Afterwards we find out Margaret’s reasons for how she turned out the way she did and was able to coldly come up with the proposed scam.

I am a little confused as to how immigration ended up in Alaska and with a family potentially finding out about the scam, but for the progress of this film something had to happen. I think things are changing.

A confession at the wedding. Well I can see Andrew isn’t going to let that pass. Is it love after all? And no men just don’t understand. This film hasn’t finished with the fakery just yet, but now a little inevitable it’s love ‘For real’.

Watch the credits, the Questions and Answers are amusing to see.

Mum's Monday: Sink the Bismarck

The start of this film gives the impression that despite this being a war film, the music and scenes suggests a light-hearted and family friendly one, and as this film is rated PG this is even more confirmed.

We hear that the war doesn’t break the British spirit, we stay strong against the enemy even though ships are being sunk in the north Atlantic.

Now we see the tour of the Cabinet War Rooms. This shows that two different people can have two very different approaches to how an operation is carried out. Captain Jonathan Shepard (Kenneth More) wants to run a tight ship/cold-heartedly getting his job done, not the informal approach as previous.

As I have mentioned about the British spirit, it was nothing compared to the attitude of the Germans as portrayed in this film. Yes, the German navy had the Bismarck, which was bigger than anything the British navy had. yes, it would seem that they had made it unsinkable and lessons may have been learned, but we all know the Titanic sank and with the added complication of there being a war on and despite having far superior equipment, the German attitude was to please Hitler, whereas the British just wanted the get the job/war over and done with, so got on with it. Yes, be strong, but not to focus on too much of the glory. The wrong attitude can destroy a fleet of ships more than weapons, as we see in this film.

We start to see a heart-warming side to Shepard with a conversation between Second Officer Anne Davis (Dana Wynter), but it doesn’t last long. The scene flips in a second this is unfortunate for Dexter (Robert Desmond).

So the HMS Hood has set sail. It is all expected however, what wasn’t expected is that there are civilians on board who were working on her.

We find out more about Shepard and get more of an insight into his coldness. All this is cleverly interweaved into the films script.

The Hood has gone, although we only see a snippet of the people on board it is still a shocking scene in the film, as so many of a variety of lives lost.

True to form, despite the Bismarck now having been damaged, German glory prevents any allowance for repairs, hence the Bismarck’s downfall.

There is a chink in Shepard’s armour after all when a member on the team falls ill, however, this again doesn’t last long either, but through-out this film it keeps chipping away at his coldness.

Anne Davis has been offered an amazing opportunity but sometimes people are more important. It is lovely to see her see the goodness in Shepard after hearing what he went through. It is lovely to see a connection. Shepard’s armour is cracking further; he is only human.

In celebration, dinner sounds perfect. However, it could be breakfast. Four stripes or not you shouldn’t judge, after all they had just sunk the Bismarck showing you just never know what goes on anywhere.

If you would like to walk in the footsteps of this film and you are able to visit London England, the Cabinet War Rooms are open to the public. There is an admission charge, the ticket prices can be found on their website. Now known as the Churchill War Rooms as now part of the Imperial War Museums. The war room are situated on King Charles Street and the nearest underground tube stations are Westminster and St. James Park. Another scene in this film shows Trafalgar Square not far from the war rooms, you can walk between the two locations but if you choose not to the nearest underground tube station is Charing Cross.

Film of the Week: Epic Movie

It’s so bad, I stopped watching whilst a quarter of the way through. It’s supposed to be a series of parodies conjoined into one movie, but the final result is only but an offensive mesh of disgraceful representations. Parody movies were once a separate movie experience. It took either a genre of a specific film and poked fun at it without actually hurting the originals.

Films such as Airplane (which is an offence even to mention one of the greatest parody films of all time in a review about Epic Movie) took an entire genre, the disaster genre, and had tonnes of fun with it, poked fun at certain concepts, elevated other specific areas to a higher meaning to make us laugh. Top Secret, a spoof of war films, again made sure to make it a unique viewing experience. Those two greats are unique because they made sure to put their own original jokes in amongst spoofing the genre or film.

Epic Movie doesn’t add anything original to the spoofing the originals. In comparison, they just bullied the originals. I turned it off only but a quarter of the way through because I didn’t laugh one bit. I didn’t find anything in the movie actually funny. I didn’t find anything in that movie remotely representative of being an honest spoof. They tried to mash together so many different genres and movies together, none of it actually made any sense. At least with Scary Movie, when it was parodying Scream, it scattered different movie references throughout, but at strategic moments to emphasis the specific scene we were watching at the time. We recognise what’s going on and the blend of the two genres and movies do make us laugh as it’s unexpected and original.

Epic Movie is the direct antithesis of what a true parody is meant to be, it practically killed parody movies. The only great parody movie left is Johnny English, a spoof of spy movies, but unfortunately the grand gem that is, is just not strong enough to give other studious the confidence to make their own spoof films.

I’m bringing this film to your attention mainly because I’ve been suffering from a bad head cold which has also knocked my voice for six and I can barely talk, therefore I hadn’t the necessary concentration of the will power over the weekend to go to the cinema. Whilst I am writing this on a Tuesday, meaning I have some life inside me, but frankly after struggling to keep my eyes open since coming home from a rather intense atmospheric day at work; I really want to go to bed early so I can have some semblance of life in my body for work tomorrow. I’ve been keeping a good streak of blogs that I’d feel bad if I had missed todays, but hadn’t a clue what to write about. I chose Epic Movie because it was easy to vent how I actually feel on the inside as the result of my head cold, because Epic Movie only but deserves to be turned off by those who at least tried to give it a chance. If I had gone to the cinema to see it, I would have demanded a refund, that’s for sure. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened yet.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: The Guns of Navarone

So the guns of Navarone is causing havoc. I get the impression this film is a long drawn out mission on destroying the said guns. Not the most solid idea for a film.

There is a bit of action, you cannot be too careful who is listening at doors. The is also a bit of suspense, when the boat disguise is searched by the German army. The search doesn’t last long; neither does their war vessel when a grenade is thrown into it.

True to what was previously said, the storm has arrived. It doesn’t seem to be portrayed as realistic. The boat should be thrown about more on the storm force waves and in the wind, with no time for an in-depth conversation. Overall the storm is badly done, there are scenes where the water is calm and it just seems like water is just being thrown over the set.

I can see the dilemma with Major Franklin (Anthony Quayle), taking him with them, I like as the best option.

Now the group have met Maria (Irene Papas) and Anna (Gia Scala) it is a little far-fetched that Maria’s brother has turned up also.

Sadly, Franklin’s situation has worsened, as have now the groups day. A well placed tunnel helps. It is good to see that Franklin has finally made it to a doctor, but you can never be too careful as to who else may be there.

The scenes where the group have been captured by the Germans, in the end, seem to be over dramatic, but ultimately the tables are turned, you could say the job/aim gets done.

It is nice to see that despite there being a war on, romance is not dead.

I can see the risk in feeding an injured man the wrong information, I agree with the speech Miller (David Niven) gives. Sadly, there is a war to win and guns to destroy.

The explosives have been tampered with, one of the group has been lying. This throws up a dilemma, should a man kill/shoot a woman? Ok no one should kill/shoot anyone, but in the nature of the circumstances of the film it is the best outcome for a woman to shoot a woman. This part stands out as the most memorable scenes in this film for me.

Now the action part of the film really gets going, face to face with the guns the suspense to get the job done before the door is broken down and they are found ramps up.

It is good to see Miller show his worth ‘Get the job done’, after what was to me an amusing encounter with a fizzing rat and a few, what you could say are near misses/close calls.

The Written Podcast: Tests

Tests are everywhere. You cannot escape them. Every day, you are tested by something, whether it be with a problem at work, at home, with your patience with something or someone difficult, the list simply doesn’t stop. The tests we are most fret about though, is the ones we need to pass in order to make any amount of progression in life, either in school or at work. At school you are required to partake in either an oral test or a written test, in order to prove you have adequate knowledge about a certain subject, and the grades you receive as the result of your being tested decides how well you’ll do in life after school. And if you don’t pass a test or get a decent enough grade, they’ll be great difficulties afoot for you.

I wish not to scare people who are about to take a test. You’re probably incredibly nervous about the test, and don’t need anyone else to describe how a test can make or break your entire career. We’ve all been through some important tests before, subsequently, we’ve all been through the woes beforehand. The nerves, the worries, the stresses; they each affect us differently.

GCSEs at high school are the deciding factor as to whether you can get the job you so want to make a career out of. Getting a good grade in your chosen subject is all that’s needed. Who knew a single letter could represent someone’s instant judgement over how much knowledge you have of a subject you are passionate about. Maths and English are the two most important grades out of all GCSEs as everyone immediately assumes you’re not good at either of them if you were to get a low grade, yet contradictory to that grade, you’re actually quite good at both maths and English, just not in a test environment. If you were to have a casual conversation about either of them, you’ll recall perfect knowledge, enough to pass any written or oral test.

When it comes to tests, there are four types of people – those who study relentlessly (and pass), those who don’t study at all (and pass), those who don’t study at all (and fail), and those who study relentlessly (and fail). The one question we always have on our minds when we discover which category your classmates fit into is, how? How can you not study at all and somehow pass? How can you study hours every night and fail? Because there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. If you’re extremely passionate about a certain subject, you don’t need to study, just take part in learning more about your chosen subject and retain the information – it has been documented that the more enthusiastic you are over the subject, the better you’ll retain the information learnt compared to that if you’re stressed and have no choice but to study because you have zero interest in the subject matter but have to take the test as it’s part of the fixed curriculum.

Don’t get me wrong, studying does absolutely help with every single test out there. Learning as much as you can about anything helps you in the future. With an amount of information inside your head, you can use that power to answer the questions and fly through the test as if it was a piece of cake. Knowledge is power when it comes to test. The more you have, the better.

There are so many different kind of tests. I’ve taken many different ones over the years, many were during school and college, but the biggest one outside of college was my driving test. That was a big moment when I was told I had passed, as it was my second attempt. Having passed the test, I was able to drive anywhere, and after 7 years driving, I do. I wouldn’t be working where I am now if it weren’t for my driving. I wouldn’t be doing half the things I do if it weren’t for driving.

In fact, there are so many different forms of tests, to list them all and describe them all would make this article too long, and I wouldn’t even be able to list them all anyway, as I know I haven’t heard of many tests as I simply have not gone through them, and may never will. But I certainly have experienced a fair amount of tests, that’s for sure, with various levels of difficulties, ranging from the external and the internal. Tests are what shape us as human beings, for without them, we won’t be the people we are today. Tests drive us forward, motivate us into learning more about how the world around us works, and how best to adapt to certain situations whenever necessary.

To anyone who is nervously, eagerly, waiting for their results for any test they’ve just taken, I wish the very best of luck for you.

Film of the Week: Pokémon – Detective Pikachu

A spoiler free review

At last, a good video game movie. Video game movies have been notoriously bad for many reasons. Adapting books, comics, TV programs, have always been easier than trying to transition a game onto the big screen. There have been many video games that have tried, but most haven’t quite made it big. Other than Need for Speed, Pokémon – Detective Pikachu is a decent video game movie, and I think I’ve figured out why that is the case.

With Need for Speed, that franchise is massive, spanning multiple games, each with their own self-contained storyline. Racing cars and being the best is always the main objective. Creating a film with the same film does, in theory, appear easy. All you have to do is write a synonymous storyline to what appeared in the games, slap the title on and you have a decent movie adaptation of a video game. With Need for Speed, there’s room to move. The majority of the games have a map in which you can roam around freely in, and in the franchise’s prime it was one of the greatest racing games out there, and many have heralded Need for Speed: Underground 2 as the best for multiple reasons, but most quoted reason is the insane amount of customisation that can be done to every car in the game, boosting their stats to insane levels.

My point is, there’s room to move. Like Need for Speed, Pokémon is a massive franchise; bigger even in every aspect. Many people don’t commonly associate Pokemon purely by the card game, but instead by the games which can be played on the Nintendo consoles, and the hugely popular Pokemon Go, which caused a little bit of controversy when it first launched with how people were walking into things, trespassing, walking too far away from home – nevertheless it is still incredible popular among Pokemon fans. Another aspect of the Pokemon franchise is the TV show. 22 seasons of the TV show have been produced, and it is tradition to release a feature length film after each season has wrapped up, meaning 21 films have been produced, with the 22^nd currently in development.

Unlike Need for Speed, which only had the games to work from, Pokemon had so much more. Whilst you have the games, each one with a self-contained storyline, therefore making it easy enough to make an original story for the film as it isn’t at all breaking continuity of the franchise, there have already been multiple films made from the games. 22 films in fact. Imagine if those 22 films had never been made, and the first live-action adaptation was indeed the first Pokemon film, known as Pokemon: The First Movie. Everything about the animated movie is to be made into a live-action version, would we be happy about that, or angry.

Now, moving onto the what we have today, Pokemon – Detective Pikachu couldn’t be done wrongly. Whilst it doesn’t follow the character Ash, but that’s OK, because neither do the games. This is a completely original version of Pokemon, establishing its own continuity, which is exactly what the games do with each new one released, and doesn’t touch what has already been implemented in the TV shows and films.

Most other live-action adaptation of video games doesn’t succeed as well as the studios would’ve like them to, is because they tried to condense a story we already know down from being 20hrs plus to 1hr 30. That doesn’t work, because a lot is going to be cut, and therefore won’t at all live up to the expectations the games have put on the filmmakers. With Need for Speed and Pokemon, the franchise allows for a live-action version of their franchises, and no game franchise can be adapted into live-action better than Pokemon.

Pokemon – Detective Pikachu is an entertaining ride. The Pokemon were comedic at times, and whilst I can pinpoint a couple of unnecessities in the movie, such as one of the characters, showcasing the actual Pokeball – if you’re only going to feature it once without explaining anything about it within that movie’s continuity, then why feature it in the first place? So, it’s not going to be worshipped as the best movie ever, it certainly can be looked up at as being the best live-action adaptation of a video game, which if you take the entire franchise into account, isn’t technically an adaptation of the video game, but instead is just an original story made into a live-action film. If you’re a fan of the franchise, I certainly recommended.

Side note – I was highly curious with why Ryan Reynolds was voicing Pikachu. Upon seeing the first trailer, it sounded completely out of place and only made Pikachu talk for the film. But, it actually offered a reason as to why Pikachu can talk, and by the end of the film, all as it should be.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: Confessions of a Shopaholic

The start of this film is brave, in that it shows that little girls just would love nice things and how it can affect them when they grow into womanhood. This is a good start to explain how Becky Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) became the shopaholic she is. I am in no way saying that everyone with a less than sparkly childhood turns out like Becky or implying that all life consists of is material things. The story line works for the nature of this film, based on the book with the same title by Sophie Kinsella.

This is an original idea and sadly, not even extreme as ‘Fact can be stranger than fiction’. There are also many reasons not just the one portrayed in this film, as to why people become shopaholics. Like I think I have implied, this film has much more depth than what you see on the screen. This film high-lights all the temptation out there in magazines and shop window displays. Also sadly, how easy it is to get credit. In this film Becky just needs to be shown something else. 

The waiting for the total Becky owes kept me on the ‘Edge of my seat’ I really thought the amount would have been a lot more.

It is lovely to see Becky’s career take off, so fresh and off the wall, but it somehow really works. It is lovely to see Becky experience more than just shopping. Sadly, it doesn’t last long and to keep you guessing a totally unexpected outcome.

It is good to see that being a shopaholic is recognised the same as being an alcoholic. And the help is out there in the way you could keep any addiction under control.

Normally when you go to a function all you have to worry about is wearing the same as someone else, but for a different take on that, Becky is wearing, yes the perfect dress but so are the waitresses wearing the perfect outfits. Luke (Hugh Dancy), I am glad to see comes to the rescue and a well-placed, timed and said/executed line makes the scene. Using the word ‘Trout’ can be funny and has been used for comedic effect before, but I like the subtleness it is used in this scene.

I suppose it was inevitable, Becky’s life/debt would catch up with her at some point. The lead up to this also keeps you on the ‘Edge of your seat’ as well.

This film has now taken a dark turn, but things are about to turn around, just when you think ‘There is no coming back from the mess’.

Well revenge is best served in Cents and a quarter. This film, ultimately, which is a good thing, is a life lesson ‘There is more to life than shopping’.