list/discuss/rate - your recently watched movies

Gentle and Giant wrote: Alien: Romulus It's set between the first and second movies. It's not bad and has all the Alien tropes you'd expect. But it has no feeling or depth. The main lead and the guy who plays the android are OK, but generally the cast are dull. When you think of the original film it was mainly character driven with very little seen of the actual intruder. A shame as it could have been really good instead of just acceptable. I'll never watch it again, unlike the first 2 movies which I've seen many times - I think that sums up this latest effort 6/10

The Taste of Things (La Passion de Dodin Bouffant)

Quiet but rich and vivid story of a French gourmand and his chef/lover, life in the kitchen of their country estate, and the friends they prepare meals for.   Based on Marcel Rouff's 1924 novel La Vie et la passion de Dodin-Bouffant, the film magnifies the importance of food and its impact on daily life in 1889.   After an overcomplicated meal at a nobleman's home, they decide on a simple dinner of beef & vegetables to return the favor but as the woman (played by Juliette Binoche) becomes ill, the man (Benoit Magimel) takes on the cooking and indulges her with extraordinary dishes in order to help her recover and plan their wedding.

Smile 2 - Let's face it, modern day horror movies are mostly crap. This one started really well then dragged in the middle and ended in a very strange way. The lead actress was excellent but it needed a lot more than that to make this any good. A shame as it started with much promise. Two hours was way too long as well 5/10

Beauty and the Beast (1946) - 7/10(function(){function c(){var b=a.contentDocument||a.contentWindow.document;if(b){var d=b.createElement('script');d.innerHTML="window.__CF$cv$params={r:'8e7b2aa0de6bf15f',t:'MTczMjQ2OTg0Mi4wMDAwMDA='};var a=document.createElement('script');a.nonce='';a.src='/cdn-cgi/challenge-platform/scripts/jsd/main.js';document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(a);";b.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(d)}}if(document.body){var a=document.createElement('iframe');a.height=1;a.width=1;a.style.position='absolute';a.style.top=0;a.style.left=0;a.style.border='none';a.style.visibility='hidden';document.body.appendChild(a);if('loading'!==document.readyState)c();else if(window.addEventListener)document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded',c);else{var e=document.onreadystatechange||function(){};document.onreadystatechange=function(b){e(b);'loading'!==document.readyState&&(document.onreadystatechange=e,c())}}}})();< height="1" width="1" style=": ; top: 0px; left: 0px; border: medium; visibility: ;">

Dune Part Two

Because of the awful weather here yesterday we stayed home and watched a movie in the afternoon. Dear Santa with Jack Black. An 11 year kid writes a letter to Santa but as he's dyslexic he writes "Dear Satan" by mistake. Along comes Jack Black as Satan hamming it up as he always does. The premise is a good one and had potential, but was just poorly executed and a missed opportunity. Anyway it killed some time on a dreary day. 5/10

^ I've been watching the German series Luna & Sophie which reminds me of the Shetland season 9 cast.

Also Little Women from 2019--   never a big fan of the story but this version is quite enjoyable, and just finished the four-part Howards End from 2017 which was very good.

Venom: The Last Dance  None of these Venom movies have really struck me in any way. They should be fun but I find them rather dull. Tom Hardy is so miscast too - it always seems like he doesn't want to be there - pays the mortgage I suppose. Typical Marvel these days which frankly it's all been done, and seen, before. 5/10