Fletch

"Have you heard the news, making all the headlines, Fletch is working overtime". The theme from 'Fletch'. What a tune. Possibly the most 80's sounding piece of music I've ever heard. Until I heard the rest of the soundtrack by Harold 'keyboard fingers' Faltermeyer. #Ding-ding-dong-gadong-dong-dong-ding-ding#.

This is one of those films that I thought I'd seen but hadn't. Fascinating me eh? Should have done though with such a great title. Had a bit of the fear as I thought it was going to be another 'Caddyshack' (shudder) but blessed be it was surprisingly good. Much more involving storyline than I had thought it would be. For the whole second I spent thinking how involved the storyline of a 25 year old Chevy Chase film would be. Really though, the plot be good. Reminded me a bit of Beverly Hills Cop actually with the wisecrack funnees and bad rich men and 'keyboard fingers'.

This should be good for the old Google rankings eh? Fletch reviews Fletch on Fletch Eats Movies. Whoa. Maybe that combination might cause a paradox that will skank up the space time continuum somehow. Or I might just press 'Publish Post' and then go and eat me sausages and mash for tea. That's two posts in a row now where I've finished off by mentioning my din dins. Maybe I should have put a full stop after each of the words in the title of this blog? Sums me up pretty well.

Anyway. Go and rent an old 80's movie today chums. It's fun.

The Losers

Needed this. Rubbish week. Actually got to go to the cinema with Mrs F - a rare treat. Big shout out for the babysitters of the world. Anyway, the film was great. Huge fun stuff and fun and stuff. Good opening. Comic book origins? Check. Team history and spiky humour established? Check. Cool action sequence? Check. Alternative payment method to card or cash? Cheque.

Great script, smart direction (some of the handheld work during the shooty-bang bits was ace) but the excellent ensemble cast is what really makes the film. Chris Evans deserves nice words for his role in particular. And for wearing a series of excellent t-shirts, almost all of which I would like to buy. I do like a quirky t-shirt. Jason Patric eases the pain of Speed 2 with a 'Hello it's me' performance. More films to come for you now JP I predict. Bloke out of Watchmen was great, blue lady from Avatar was cool, geezer with the wobbly dog toy was funny, snipey hat dude was a dude. Yep. Team performance for the win.

Would have preferred a bit of a harder edge if I'm honest, felt a bit restricted at times with its 12A rating. Ending didn't quite live up to what had happened before the ending, but they clearly fancy a sequel or two and so do I and most of the rest of the audience I expect. There was even the odd ripple of spontaneous applause for a few bits of the film. This is a good sign. If a bit cringe-worthy.

So with complete agreement on the film and a 'you should buy that on DVD' from Mrs F, the only discussion left for the way home was where to eat. Chinese in the end. Deep fried courgettes in hot chilli salt. Nom.

Night At The Museum 2

Pretty run of the mill sequel stuff. Watched it with Luke as a movienight treat, Mrs Fletch brought him his dinner on a tray so he didn't even have to pause it - he was in hog's heaven. Nice plot device to get the action taken to somewhere with loads of fresh new exhibits to animate. Everyone seems to be having a nicey-nice time. Two things that made father and son laugh lots? 1 - Coogan's little Roman charging dramatically through the White House lawn but then cut to a wide shot and you can't see anything happening. 2 - Monkey in space suit running to open door and then leaping through the air in slo-mo to hit the button. This last one actually warranted a rewind and watch again. I am clearly a very serious and highbrow film critic.

Nodded off a little bit. Missed the bit about some code combination shenanigan to open the gate to the underworld but didn't seem to matter too much. When the solution's revealed by a band of nodding Einstein toys you know you don't need to worry a great deal about catching up though. Bye bye! No you hang up, love you. Bye!

Hitman

Videogame. Film. Never played Hitman game but have now seen film. Um, usual double cross storyline and stuff. Timmy Elephant was Mr Hitman and spent lots of the film looking at people through the zoom on his gun. Even when he wasn't doing the shooty business. He not heard of binoculars. More important question for first half of film - who is that Interpol bloke? Then it clicked. He's Byron Wordsworth from CBeebies.

I may have lost some of the intricate plotting and elaborate story arcs whilst trying to remember that. Some of the blokes playing Russians were enormously rubbish. Especially the one who called in the helicopter gunship. Which in itself was a really rubbish idea. And what was the solemn 'let's put our guns down and get out swords instead' bit all about? And if you'd written some elaborate code to erase a hard drive when someone hits a key, would you really be bothered about making it flash up "Hard drive permanently erased" afterwards?

Best bit of film?

 Me sorry.

The Road

Not the film to watch if you're a bit down in the dumps. I knew it was about a father and son's struggle to survive after some unexplained apocalyptic kerfuffle and that nob jokes and topless song and dance routines were unlikely (it's just taken me five goes to spell 'unlikely' - odd), but it's unremittingly bleak in style and tone.

Despite the monochrome palette though, some of the landscapes are starkly beautiful and brilliantly rendered (lots of excellent work by several effects houses I spotted in the credits). The visual look of the film is so compelling that it almost helps lift the mood in between worrying about what godawful situation the boy and his Dad are going to run into next. Excellent work by Viggy Mortenson as usual. He's pretty much your go-to man for stoic intensity. I'd want him on my team if it was all kicking off. Also me was impressed by Robert Duvall's almost unrecognisable cameo as 'nice old dude messily eating fruit from a tin'.

Good but grim. Was actually quite a relief to help the wife sort out the laundry straight after I'd watched it - the sort of mundane chore you would yearn for in a world where you spend all your time dodging cannibals and stapling your leg back together.

Vertigo

Wasn't really in the mood to watch this. Had just finished a short but 'je suis fatigue' gym session, watched Luke create a superbug for his homework (woodlice with spider eyes, wasp wings and scorpion tail - quality), got Jack ready for bed and other stuff. I usually have a little nap about 8pm but the need to eat a classic movie won out tonight. Opening music was properly proper good - must get me a quickfix Bernard Herrman CD. What with that and the brilliant titles I was definitely drawn in. Hello roof-top chase sequence. Hello shot that's exactly the same as The Matrix (steal from the best eh Wachowskis?).

Had nooooo idea what to expect from this film at all so was a treat just to go with it. Ahhh, it's a thriller. No it's a mystery. Oooh it's gone a bit supernatural. This was the commentary I made as I sat alone with my coffee and cookies. In my head anyway where the other voices live. I was also wondering why anyone would decorate a restaurant with such a vividly red colour. And why rear-projection looks so good even though it's inherently a bit rubbish. Just makes me feel I'm watching a proper movie and therefore happy. Anyone else get this? Nope? Just me and the voices then...

Seemed to go on way longer than it needed to though. James Stewart's dream sequence was brilliantly mental and hooked me back again and then the Nun arrived and it finished. So all in all me says this, I think I admired it more than I enjoyed it but am really glad I saw it. Might have to nom-nom a few more Hitchcocks that I haven't seen now.

Nowhere Boy

John Winston Lennon is definitely one of my heroes. Arrogant but vulnerable, brilliant but foolish, angry but fragile. All words I would have used to describe the fella before seeing this. And words that perfectly sum up the Lennon portrayed here as a rebellious and ambitious teenager. Aaron Johnson is excellent in the lead role - really bloody good. He's had quite a year what with this and Kick-Ass. Busy boy. Not to mention getting his forty-something director here up the duff too. Dirty boy.

Enjoyed this much more than I expected too. Occasionally veers a little too close to a Sunday evening telly drama but for the most part it's a really interesting look at the relationships and events that formed Lennon. Feels very honest and real too. The guy had a confusing upbringing to say the least. All the big history moments (the Quarrymens' first gig, meeting Paul, the early recordings) are brought to life well and raised a happy smile from this Beatle fanatic. It's made me want to dig my guitar our and badly strum along to the incredible collection of songs that Lennon and his mates would go on to create...

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Luke was feeling a bit off-colour tonight so a snuggle on the sofa and a movie-night was in order. We've played the Lego Indiana Jones games on the Xbox loads of times but he's never seen the films so the time had come.

Easy to forget just how many classic or iconic scenes there are in this, there's an absolute gem every 15 minutes or so. The big rolling ball, the shadow on the wall at Marion's bar, shooting the swingy sword bloke, the dragging behind the truck. It's got a real 'lived in' feel to it too which is sorely lacking from the latest installment. Felt an intense paternal pride when Luke said 'Blimey, that's a bit harsh' when several bad arab dudes charged to attack Indy - A) for being so into the film and B) for using such an amusing expression for a 7 year old.

Great film. But you know that. Need a few more movie-nights now to cover the rest of the series. Might try to put off Crystal Skull for a bit though...

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Haven't seen a Woody Allen film in years but had heard this was one of his better offerings. An enjoyable little movie - great spirit to it. Lots of interesting characters and dynamics with all the relationships. Scarlet Johansson has a very curious face. It's a bit wonky one minute and completely gorgeous the next. Clever that. Turned into a different story than the one I was expecting which was sort of 'meh' for a bit but then I got back into it. Me definitely wants to go to Barcelona now. Really well made film too, some beautiful shots in it. Made me feel a bit grown up and bohemian just by watching it. Like an intelligence osmosis via DVD. Didn't last long of course. 'Bum'. *Snigger*. See?

Iron Man 2

I saw this nearly two days ago. The delay in writing this what you read now is a pretty clear indication that me was a bit nonplussed with this film. There's a load of good stuff in there but it's mostly saved till the end. The first two thirds is all Tony Stark being a bit of a silly moody pants and then a ton of stuff setting up the Avengers film. Now I'm enough of a geek to know what Marvel is doing here and that the Hulk and next year's Thor are all moving towards that big team up film. Christ, I even sat through the endless credits of this to see the mini extra tease at the end - but none of this helps Iron Man 2 as a film in its own right. Would love to know what your average filmgoer thinks Samuel L Jackson is up to when he comes marching in with his eye patch spouting off about the SHIELD program.

Thought Scarlet Johannson was really good doing the chop-socky, kicky, spinny bad guys bit. Nice costume. Big 'roboty' fight at the end was fun for a bit but all over too quickly and essentially just two tin people constantly banging each other on the head. Whiplash was cool - especially with the slicey racey car bit. Great scene that. But then he buggered off to tap keyboards for ages and coo at a budgie or something. Hmmm. Yeh, I was definitely disappointed with this. It's just not strong enough as a standalone film.

I'm still looking forward to Iron Man 3 though....