Film Shapes

Monday morning. Kids at school. $10 tickets at the Galleria. All looking good. And then.... Ready Player Wonka. This is Steven Spielberg's latest. It's about a boy, Charlie Bucket Wade Watts, played by Tye Sheridan, who lives in an impoverished rural  urban setting and dreams of being elsewhere. Enter a mysterious, man-child savant with poor social skills and a hugely popular business enterprise. Said fella wants to give away 'the keys to the kingdom' for one reason or another. Loads of people scramble to find the golden ticket keys. Shit, there's even a scene of the protagonists floating in a cylindrical chamber that's very reminiscent of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory . Like most Spielberg films, this is put together with the skills of a professional technician who knows what he's doing and can call upon the cream of the industry to help him. He has some pull, this guy. But also like most Spielberg films, it doesn't do anyth...

Here's a new thing. I usually only put up entries for films that I see at the cinema (save the occasional 'best of' or some such) but as this streaming idea begins to take hold, I thought I'd join the party. The caveat is that Annihilation was released in cinemas in the US, Canada and China, and Netflix in other 'territories' so it's actually a ridgy digde theatrical release anyway. Not sure how to play it with films like Bright and Mute , which were Netflix originals (though not much chop). We'll see. So, to the film itself. This follows a few years after the great Ex Machina and is imbued with similar weighty, thought-provoking qualities. It stars Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac, both of whom are top drawer, basically their default setting. It's creepy, well-paced and it ends with some nice ambiguity. So why didn't I like it as much as I thought I would? Don't get me wrong, it's a good film. But I wasn't blown away. Nor was I...