Continued from last issue: a long gap following May 2021, many of these films are now streaming. Sydney locked down in June and cinema kicked off in mid-October. Here is some of what I have seen since.

Movie: Ghostbusters Afterlife
Director:  Jason Reitman
Stars: Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard

This film has generated a split response with critics generally negative and the public much more enthusiastic. For mine it is a charming film, and worth a look if you want some mild escapism leavened with a touch of family drama and are not overly worried about special effects. It stands accused of being trapped in nostalgia, which may well have more than a grain of truth, but to me that is completely beside the point. It ignores the female-based reboot, which seems to be its actual sin, and is a continuation of the original sequence so on that basis alone it is difficult to see how they could ignore the past. Jason Reitman being the son of original director Ivan Reitman means that there is a healthy respect for the original sequence, but it is hardly over the top. I was never much of a Ghostbusters fan, yet I found this easy to watch so good for him.

Hanging largely on accomplished child actor Mckenna Grace’s performance as the awkward but clever Phoebe, with Carrie Coon’s single mom performance also propping it up, the ensemble gels well enough, though perhaps Finn Wolfhard is risking some serious typecasting because he could be playing his Stranger Things role here. Some of the effects are very ordinary but if you are not bringing suspension of disbelief then what are you even doing catching a Ghostbusters flick? Useful for a date, or perhaps even with kids

Movie: Spider Man: No Way Home
Director:  Jon Watts
Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch

Easily the most accomplished and best of the MCU connected Spider Man films, hopefully this is the last we see of 25-year-old Tom Holland having to act like a witless child as the events here finally force Peter Parker to grow up. The box office does not lie and if you are MCU’ed out and you are limiting your intake then this is the one to see in 2021-2022, and the best since Infinity War.

There is a lot of fan service here, and at an opening midnight screening in Sydney the largely MCU nerd audience cheered for Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield when they appeared. While having seen the previous, non-MCU iterations of Spider Man will help understand the “nuance” here, it is not necessary as everything is laid on with a trowel.

Obviously if you were never into MCU or Spider Man then there is nothing here for you beyond a ridiculous special effects budget, and several fine dramatic actors playing dress-ups.

Movie: The King’s Man
Director:  Matthew Vaughn
Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Djimon Hounsou

Execrable, and probably franchise ending. The original was an hilarious farce, a wonderful spoof of the genre, and the sequel not as strong but a solid progression. This film was just awful; entirely the wrong tone, not a laugh to be had, and for every scene which showed promise there were two or three that were terrible. I had to check if the writing and directing were an entirely new crew, but no. Perhaps writer/director Michael Vaughn has suffered some tragedy. How else to explain this turd?

Movie: House of Gucci
Director:  Ridley Scott
Stars: Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto

This has had criticism based on ahistoricism. About a fashion house. Good grief. Not a big screen must see, but this is a solid film as you would expect from Scott and the cast. It is a crime drama and morality play and should be seen as such, with the focus on relationships, while the fashion, money and ambition are merely shallow context. Undeniably, without their shallow context this could just be a pathetic suburban family drama, and there is the rub. There is plenty of fair criticism that too much of this is soap opera melodrama, and Leto’s Paolo Gucci a ridiculous caricature.

While Driver is exceptionally good, it is Gaga that has the difficult role of playing someone both naturally and effectively cunning while simultaneously increasingly out of her depth. Her Patrizia Reggiani is compelling though difficult to watch at times. Given the tragic yet ridiculous outcome perhaps she has nailed it.

Movie: King Richard
Director:  Reinaldo Marcus Green
Stars: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Bernthal

A few years of the childhood of Venus and Serena Williams with their wacky dad Richard played by Will Smith. I found it intriguing enough, and well worth the money, but hard to reconcile the reputation of Williams based on footage of his performances at tournaments with this very sympathetic portrayal.

I imagine tennis nuts would have many issues, but for those unfamiliar with the way tennis stars are created but unwilling to watch documentaries this works well as entertainment. Sign your five old up with a tennis or golf coach today.

Movie: The Last Duel
Director:  Ridley Scott
Stars: Matt Damon, Jodie Comer, Adam Driver

I would say see this for Matt Damon’s mullet and that should be sufficient. However, there is a fair list of things to recommend: Jodie Comer, Ridley Scott’s direction, a few of the character actors, some particularly good armoured-combat scenes, and a solid story well scripted that manages the rape at the centre of the story with effective craft. In the against column is Ben Affleck not playing to his strengths.

Two and a half hours, and a fair chunk is retelling the same events through different perspectives so not for the impatient, but a rewarding film.

Movie: Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Stars: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Michelle Yeoh

While in many respects it is just more of the same from the MCU at least it is refreshed with a heavy East Asian emphasis, and the Chinese dragon scenes in the compulsory “big final fight” are impressive. On the other hand, there is the return of Ben Kingsley in that sad little role that seems to be included here as fan service that no fans exist for. Michelle Yeoh is far above everyone else, and the ensemble does not really gel.

Overall, this plays to the strengths of the franchise, is mostly well paced and while no Infinity War it is a useful addition, but if you have had enough MCU for a lifetime you can let this through.

Movie: The Battle at Lake Changjin
(Mandarin, English subtitles)
Directors:  Kaige Chen, Dante Lam, Hark Tsui
Stars:  Jing Wu, Jackson Yee, Yihong Duan

This is the highest grossing film worldwide of 2021 - almost entirely in the Chinese domestic market. For most of the West the battle is the Frozen Chosin Reservoir, where 14 US Marines won Medals of Honour, and the US suffered a bloody nose, and the counter invasion of the North was ruined.

Unlike a few other propaganda pieces that I rated quite highly this is woeful. Admittedly deeper into the film much of the actual battle scenes involving the 7th Company - our heroes whose struggles you will appreciate - are effective from an action standpoint at least, if not a strictly military one. The problem is you might not get there.

You would not learn from this that North Korea started the war with an invasion of South Korea. Nor would you learn that the Incheon landings, which feature some of the worst CGI in the history of CGI, and seem to go on forever, were in South Korea and were to both recapture Seoul and to cut off the invading North Korean forces which had largely overrun the country. In fact, the North Koreans and the Soviet Union and the South Koreans do not seem to feature at all. In this film it is strictly noble Communist China vs the imperialist, warmongering USA. Unfortunately, it is so comically over the top I involuntarily laughed out loud in several places.

What you will learn is that that the PLA forces designated PVA for this campaign, with the V for volunteer, were brave, committed, under-fed, under-clothed, capable of extended night marching operations to evade daytime recon flights, and did in fact cause the US to end its 1950 campaign to overrun North Korea and end the war.

As always with propaganda pieces the real game is spotting the context of particular details and contemplating how relevant they are to immediate considerations. One of the big ones here is one of Mao’s sons and his presence in the campaign. Firstly, there is the attempt to impose the “correct” narrative on his death, which apparently is controversial. Secondly, it is argued by some that the fact that many prestigious leadership positions in current PLA forces, (think fighter pilots, sub and ship commanders, tank unit leaders) are occupied by the only sons of high ranking CCP officials is a serious deterrent to the CCP waging aggressive war. In which case this depiction might warrant further attention.

As a film it is hard to recommend, especially given its almost three-hour runtime. Nonetheless, culturally and politically, this is a film to be aware of.

Movie: Last Night in Soho
Director:  Edgar Wright
Stars: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith

Difficult not to see this for several cast related reasons: the late Dianna Rigg’s final role, Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit), and Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, and Terence Stamp.

On the other hand, as a mystery thriller horror film with a paranormal centre difficult to recommend unless you are into that. I am not particularly a horror-paranormal fan, but I was mostly all right with it - the McKenzie mirroring sequences with Taylor-Joy are quite good - until the last act where it switches focus and tears at the suspension of disbelief.

More approved by fans than the critics, this could have used more discipline on the time front which would have helped the pacing. Still, an interesting film leaving plenty to think about - especially if you have been following British feminists lately.

Juddy keeps busy consuming cultural media while posing as a student at a major Sydney university, thus shirking real work. He hosts pub trivia, and tutors at said university, for beer and book money.