House of Gucci; director Ridley Scott’s latest crime/drama/thriller is all about the highly ambitious Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga). Specifically, her impact on the Gucci family fashion empire. The kind of impact that ends up leading to betrayal, murder and revenge.
Salma Hayek, Jared Leto, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Jack Huston are among the key cast.
I actually saw the initial teaser trailer for this movie several weeks ago, but I wasn’t especially excited then.
Now that trailer two is here, I’m still uncertain about how it will turn out. I mean, the seemingly unnecessary prosthetics, how overly dramatic it strangely feels, and if I’m fully honest, I’m in two minds about Gaga as Patrizia.
Still, I remain hopeful. Especially since this is a Scott movie, and I love Salma Hayek. Also, it should be interesting to see a version of the Gucci story that will help me relearn why, if I recall correctly, none of the Gucci family owns Gucci anymore.
Are you excited about House of Gucci?
Mãdãlina Ghenea, Camille Cottin, Reeve Carney, Eva Moore, Edouard Philipponnat, Vincent Riotta, Bianca Nappi, Luca Chikovani, Livio Beshir, and Johanna Santos also star.
I’m disappointed to say that ‘quite forgettable’ is the most fitting phrase for how I feel about Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds’s latest action/crime/comedy, Red Notice.
Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, I had a telling ‘bad feeling’ within the first few minutes of the movie starting. The kind of feeling that let me know that Red Notice won’t be as fun and engaging as I’d hoped.
I was soon proven right when the question ‘Why am I bored?’ crossed my mind during the scenes before the forty-minute mark. The answer is, the lacking script/story edit, a Johnson/Reynolds dynamic that didn’t work for me right away, a performance by Gadot that fell surprisingly flat, and the fact that very little if anything about Red Notice played as adequately new and exciting.
I was finally fully engaged and glued to the action taking place at around the fortieth minute. I wish I could say it was all good from that point on, but even though there were some clever/fun moments, overall, what Thurber’s film did most well for me is not what I expected.
In addition to doing well at setting up a sequel that might be more fun, Red Notice brought to mind Daniel Craig’s best Bond films. No doubt because Craig’s films excelled in areas that Red Notice did not. Especially where great pacing, highly engaging dialogue, well-drawn characters and exciting action sequences are concerned.
I needed Red Notice to be better. But I wouldn’t call it completely unwatchable. Give it a chance if you’re particularly curious.
Directed by Nora Fingscheidt; The Unforgivable has Sandra Bullock as Ruth Slater, the perpetrator of a violent crime who’s just been released from prison
Sandy B. (I’ve heard Chris ‘Captain America’ Evans refer to her this way) looks incredible in this. I’m ready to watch her and all the movie powerhouses (Viola Davis, Vincent D’Onofrio and Jon Bernthal) flex their acting muscles in this story; the kind where a happy ending seems unlikely. But maybe the start of healing is what we’ll get.
I’ve missed Sandy B. So glad she’s back at her best.
Aisling Franciosi, Richard Thomas, W. Earl Brown, Linda Emond, Tom Guiry, Rob Morgan, Emma Nelson and Jessica McLeod also star.
You wait ‘200 years’ for the most compelling story, and finally, it comes.
Written/directed by Benjamin Cleary; Naomie Harris, Glenn Close and Mahershala Ali are the stars of Swan Song, a new drama/sci-fi with a trailer so very intriguing that I dare not explain the premise, for it is best experienced…
To say that Ali is the perfect actor to play this role feels like an understatement. I am a massive fan of what he can do without words.
There’s no doubt that very big tears are going to flow while watching this one, but I suspect it will all be worth it.
I’m excited to find out if things turn out as Ali’s Cameron Turner expected. I sure hope the answer is yes. But considering that he signed up for something experimental, who’s to know?
In addition to season one of Ted Lasso (2020) and season one of The Morning Show (2019), this is definitely one of my favourites of all the trailers that Apple TV+ has ever released.
Tell me you’re as excited as I am about this very promising story. Tell me, at once!
Awkwafina, Lee Shorten, Nyasha Hatendi, Luke Camilleri, Adam Beach, Dax Rey, JayR Tinaco, Jessica Hayles,
The Guilty, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riley Keogh, Paul Dano and Ethan Hawke’s latest crime/drama/thriller about a demoted police officer assigned to a call dispatch desk is well-acted, though not exactly perfect.
Director Antoine Fuqua’s film is intense, and I like that immediately it’s clear that Gyllenhaal’s character, Joe Baylor is far from the model police officer. I enjoyed how the intensity built up as the movie played, especially since the action takes place in two rooms. Nevertheless, at times I did find myself frustrated by the pacing.
Another frustration is the story edit towards the end when we learn the truth of Keogh’s character. I’m not sure what could have happened differently. However, I am sure that the story edit in that moment and one or two others left me wanting.
The most expected thing about The Guilty, besides a good performance from Gyllenhaal, is the increase in my appreciation for the work that first responders do. Especially the ones who do absolutely everything they can to help.
I was surprised not to recognise any of the voices of the well-known actors. Specifically the ones the audience only get to meet through how they sound when they speak to Joe Baylor on the phone. I still can’t tell you which characters Paul Dano, Ethan Hawke and Peter Sarsgaard played. Is it just me?
Give The Guilty a chance if you’re curious. The story will break your heart in multiple ways, and the intense moments are a highlight, even if you end up wishing for a slightly different story edit.
If you want a brilliantly executed story set in one place, and where you only meet the other characters through their voice over the telephone, I can’t recommend Locke (2013) enough.
The Batman (2022), Robert Pattinson, Warner Bros. Pictures
From director Matt Reeves; the trailer for The Batman, Robert Pattinson’s first film where he’s suited up as the caped crusader is out – and I have semi-unexpected thoughts.
This trailer does have some highlights. However, the best I can say after watching it is that I’m hopeful the movie turns out great. I say this because right now, this specific trailer edit just isn’t giving me close to the levels of excitement that Christopher Nolans’s Batman trailers did – not that a great trailer is the guarantee of a fantastic film, of course.
Also, I must admit, it’s definitely not lost on me that I wasn’t initially in love with the first trailer for this very movie when it was released in October 2021 either, but it did eventually grow on me, mostly. As such, who knows how I’ll feel in a week or so when I rewatch this edit with new eyes.
Maybe then I’ll change my mind about Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman being the key feature of this trailer that has most effectively commanded my attention.
Are you still excited about The Batman movie after seeing this trailer? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, Peter Sarsgaard, John Turturro, Con O’Neill, Max Carver, Jeffrey Wright, Andy Serkis, Charlie Carver, Alex Ferns, Amy Clare Beales, Jimmy Star and Mark Killeen also star.
Director Wes Craven’s 1996 horror movie hitScreamhas a new instalment.
Directed this time by Matt Bettinelli-Olpinand Tyler Gillett, Scream 2022 sees the return of Courtney Cox, Neve Campbell and David Arquette, along with new faces including Jenna Ortega and Marley Shelton.
This new story has Sidney Prescott (Campbell), one of the survivors of the original Scream movies returning to her home town; a place where a masked killer has been committing a fresh batch of vicious crimes.
Scream is one of the movies that made me realise that slasher horror films are the kind of scary movies that don’t give me nightmares. As such, I’m watching this, in part for the nostalgia and to find out if this too feels as ‘made for me‘ as the original.
I plan to get happily lost in the story, and hopefully not end up missing all the great characters in the first film. Especially those played by Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich and of course, Drew Barrymore, in th eperfect blond bob.
Will you be watching this new Scream movie, rewatching the 1996 Scream or both?
Melissa Barrera, Dylan Minnette, Jack Quaid, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sonia Ammar, Mikey Madison, Mason Gooding and Kyle Gallner also star.
As some of you may remember, comedy/drama Ted Lasso – season one; the story of a US American Football coach, who arrives in the UK to manage a struggling English Premier League soccer team is, without a doubt, one of the best things that happened to me in 2020.
Fast forward to now, when season two has both started and finished; let’s put it this way, I’ll make time for season three in 2022; however, I’ll be sure to calm myself right down should I find myself getting too excited about the third instalment.
Yes, season two of Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham’s Emmy Award-winning series did at times move me to laughter and tears. The problem is that it also made me cringe because some of what I adored about season one, such as the positive attitude and heartwarming kindness, in parts of season two, it’s written in a way that often felt forced. The most irritating example of this, for me, is the Christmas episode.
Ted Lasso (2021), Hannah Waddingham, Jason Sudeikis, Apple TV+
Another way that season two disappointed me is how it handled delving more into the lives of the less central characters. Rather than finding myself engrossed in some of these secondary stories, I was annoyed that I wasn’t learning more about Lasso himself. Additionally, during these departures from the main focus, when Lasso did feature, the writing leant into his eccentricities in a fashion that, for me, cheapened his character.
As creative and somewhat well-edited as the episode that focuses on coach Beard is, thematically, it just felt out of place with the rest of the season. Then there’s the fact that I did not believe the direction of Beard’s love story with the mysterious Jane.
Speaking of not believing, where Nate’s all-important character journey is concerned, I sadly neither liked nor did I buy it.
All in all, I’m sad to say that season two of Ted Lasso annoyed me more than it pleased me. Even though I was glad to learn more about Lasso’s history and struggles, the season is more reminiscent of the short-lived Sex and the City movie franchise than I’d hoped. Meaning, I loved the first movie, but my goodness was it abundantly clear that the second film was hugely rushed, resulting in a less than pleasing result.
There are actually no specific episodes that stand out as my favourite in season two. But almost all episodes of season one do. Luckily, I do have a favourite season two moment, and that is how Jamie Tartt’s all-important walk on to the pitch is captured and presented.
What do you think of Season two of Ted Lasso? Have I been too harsh? Let me know in the comments below.
The Movie My Life 