Cillian Murphy, Emily Watson and Jay Lycurgo are the stars of Steve, a Tim Mielants-directed comedy/drama about a headteacher’s struggle to save his reform college. Something he’s working on while managing his mental health and dealing with his troubled students.
I never want to miss out on a brilliant Murphy performance. As such, hopefully, the right mood for watching this will come just in time. I also look forward to seeing how the part-comedy categorisation ends up showing up. I’m guessing it will be classic classroom banter.
How are you feeling about Steve?
Roger Allam, Tracey Ullman, Douggie McMeekin, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Youssef Kerkour, Little Simz, Tut Nyuot, Marcus Garvey and Priyanga Burford also star.
The Alex Garland-written/directed Ex Machina (2014) is in the top three of my favourite science fiction movies of all time.
Had I known that Garland was the writer of sci-fi/zombie classic, 28 Days Later (2002), my general aversion to scary movies aside, I’d probably have seen the film years earlier.
28 Days Later (2002), Naomie Harris, Fox Searchlight Pictures
Directed by Danny Boyle (another point for why I ought to have seen the film already), it was my love for the trailers of the recently released 28 Years Later (2025), the third movie in the series, and a little convincing from a fellow movie fan that finally made me do the thing.
And as I did so, I soon learned that 28 Days Later is a classic for a reason. It’s no wonder Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris’s careers seemed to only ascend after this film, a well-told story about a mysterious and incurable virus that takes over the UK, leaving only a few survivors in search of safety.
28 Days Later (2002), Cillian Murphy, Fox Searchlight Pictures
A good time is what I had as this movie played. And, yes, for a brief moment, my sensitive soul may have had some regret about starting 28 Days Later, specifically when things took a dark turn towards the end. However, I remain glad I saw it all because I was fully engaged throughout. The great use of music contributed to this, along with all the performances, including my favourite line:
‘He’s still waiting for Marks & Spencer to reopen.’
I love it because the comic timing is fantastic, and it’s so very relatably British.
Watch 28 Days Later, if you haven’t already. And certainly because 28 Years Later is quite worth it.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, Jodie Comer and Cillian Murphy’s latest highly anticipated film, 28 Years Later, the one that’s directed by Danny Boyle has a great new trailer.
This is a great trailer. I also enjoyed the sort of teaser of the trailer that’s now above. Another way to put it is, I loved the creative ‘holding page’ that existed before this trailer was officially published some hours later, the one that featured the red skulls.
I’m starting to doubt if my sensitive disposition can endure such a film. I still want to, even more, because of how creative and exciting the marketing campaign has been. Maybe I’ll try telling myself it will be only as scary as A Quiet Place (2028), which I can watch sans nightmares.
I’m truly, very excited for all the super fans.
Erin Kellyman, Edvin Ryding, Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Edvin Ryding, Chi Lewis-Parry, Alfie Williams and Nathan Hall also star.
That hit 2002 zombie horror movie28 Days Later, which starred Cillian Murphy, Brandon Gleeson and Naomie Harris, finally has a great-looking follow-up film called 28 Years Later.
Directed once again by Danny Boyle and co-written by Boyle and Alex Garland of Ex Machina (2015), as the title suggests, the movie appears to be set 28 years after the events of the first film, and it’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer and Cillian Murphy who star.
I have not yet watched 28 Days Later. However, based on this trailer being so wonderful that I didn’t know what to do with myself, I’ve decided to be brave and watch it before 28 Years Later is released.
Isn’t the poem that plays over this trailer just perfectly chosen, from the rhythm to the tone of the reader’s voice and everything in between?
Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Erin Kellyman, Edvin Ryding, Edvin Ryding, Chi Lewis-Parry, Alfie Williams and Nathan Hall also star.
My feelings about Oppenheimer are similar to how I felt about Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-nominated American Sniper (2014). By this, I mean that the key performances were fantastic. But, as for the question of whether I like either film as a whole, not really. Oppenheimer is my least favourite of Christopher Nolan’s movies to date.
I can’t say that I strongly dislike Oppenheimer because it does a number of things well. Nevertheless, the film isn’t the best example of Nolan’s capabilities. Especially considering none of his films has ever forced me to reach for my phone because the events on screen were inadequately engaging.
One hour into the movie, I took a nap. Ten minutes after that, things became exciting again. Sadly, the rest of the movie continued in this fashion of dipping in and out of being engaging and tedious until towards the end.
Of course, a three-hour feature film is too long. And even though I may have been a little tired that day, that fact doesn’t negate the need for better pacing and a tighter edit. There also wasn’t enough variety for me, visually speaking. The black-and-white scenes where Oppenheimer and his associates get interrogated, though those scenes had some engaging peaks, it felt repetitive and tedious in parts.
I guessed that Nolan’s latest film wouldn’t be as thrilling asInception (2010), The Dark Knight (2008) orInterstellar (2014). After all, the film is limited by the fact that it’s a biography. And therefore, it can only focus on events that happened. Additionally, it’s a story about one of the darkest events in recent human history, meaning that fun is unlikely to be a word to describe the viewing experience. Even so, I thought I’d be engaged at least 90% of the time, as per the usual Nolan film experience.
A notable highlight of Oppenheimer is how, through stunning visuals, the sometimes jarringly loud sound and Murphy’s faultless portrayal, Nolan gives us glimpses into the inner workings of a genius mind, one haunted by a parasitic idea, dare I say.
I also appreciate that Oppenheimer had me thinking about the reality that humans will likely be responsible for whichever end-of-the-world scenario we find ourselves in. Largely thanks to the double-edged sword that is our compulsion to innovate.
The majority of memorable moments in Oppenheimer are thanks to brilliant performances and scenes with great dialogue. For example, all the scenes between Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon’s character, Casey Affleck’s brief but highly unsettling time on screen and each time that Emily Blunt and Murphy’s characters appear together. There’s also Robert Downey Jr.’s latter scenes and, last but not least, the perfection of the final scene.
I wish that I fully enjoyed the story edit along with the award-nomination-worthy performances. I suppose I’ll get over it at some point.
Have you seen Oppenheimer yet? If not, based on the whisperings you’ve heard so far, do you still think it’s big-screen worthy? If you’ve already seen it, where does it land in your list of favourites, a list that includes Inception and Tenet ?
The Movie My Life 