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Watched Project Hail Mary last night.

It was pretty good fun, and one that even after renting it, we are planning on buying a physical copy down the road, which in this day and age, seems like an accomplishment in its own right?

Anyhow, yeah, really liked the character driven narratives in this one, and the SFX that obviously needed to be used to bring certain characters to life were, IMO, handled very well, and I can see this one aging quite well.

Ant-Man

I feel this is kind of underrated within the MCU stable.

OK, by the point this was released we were used to interwoven and intersecting stories. And this one? Is pretty stand alone. Certainly you can watch this without needing to know anything of the wider MCU.

But….my god it sells the scale and relative density thing, and sells it well. It’s like the polar opposite of the latest Kongzilla movie in that respect.

And honestly? It’s just overall really well made. And it was nice to switch to pretty low stakes shenanigans.

Captain America, Civil War

Was this peak MCU? Because it feels like peak MCU.

I love how it lets the audience decide on the justification and limitations of the Sokovia Accords. And the way the team splits feels reasonable, and the result of personal introspections.

I like Ant Man. Paul Rudd is adorable and Michael Douglas still commands the screen.

We watched the Sheep Detectives. Very successful in the Flinty household. Good fun, nice performances some heartstring pulling.

Black Widow

I think I’d only seen this the once, when it debuted on Disney+.

Watched in timeline order, I feel it does work better. It’s certainly better than I recall, mostly due to a really solid cast.

Dr Strange

I remember not being terribly convinced by Bendyditch Custardsplatch when I first saw this, but have changed my mind.

Visually a very different feel to the rest of the MCU with the funky angles and that. And the conclusion is terrific.


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Thor Ragnarok

Ahhh, the last great Thor film. The silly has been ramped up, but not to a tedious degree.

Everyone’s having a great time, Cate Blanchett in particular.

My only criticism is how Skurge’s guns, Des and Troy, are super effective against the Undead Asgardians, when we know Asgardians are pretty much bullet proof. Looks cool though, and I’m willing to fill in the blank and assume he souped them up.

Oh dear, you are getting to the place where the MCU starts to fail..... be ready!

I’m not sure I’d agree it begins to fail as such, just loses some of its cohesion between films and shows.

Watching this phase back in in-universe chronological order really does show how carefully the Infinity Saga was plotted out, which allowed Infinity War and Endgame to be such an effective finisher. So many little details seeded here or brought back to the fore.

The only real stinkers for me are Eternals (it’s just nowt to do with owt), and Quantumania.

Quantumania is a solid enough film, but again just didn’t really feel connected to anything else in the way we’d grown used to.

Wakanda Forever gets a pass from me. It’s undeniably of uneven quality. But given they’d lost the lead, and it was being made during the pandemic, I think it’s easy to judge it too harshly. It’s therefore “aCtUaLlY” a good movie, no. Just that I acknowledge unique pressures which impacted its production. Mostly it’s just the big submarine battle that feels wonky.

Doc Strange 2 is the beginning of the End for me.

I dunno. I really enjoyed that one, but then I think Wanda is the most interesting Avenger.


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Ant-Man and the Wasp

Another fun outing. Loses it a wee bit in the middle, but does stick the landing. Largely saved by the clever scaling and how it’s applied.

Though it has made me wonder if I’d rather use Pym Particles to shrink me, or embiggen my models for greater ease of painting?


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And now? To borrow from another beloved film from a frankly wildly varying move franchise?

So we come to it in the end. The great battle of our time, in which many things shall pass away

It. Is Infinity War!

Not only a corker of a movie, but one with scenes set in Edinburgh, which is my home city. Even better? Whilst the scenes atop the cathedral were filmed elsewhere (Durham Cathedral from memory)? The movement and locations all make sense. First Cockburn Street. Then a jump to the old Parliament courtyard, and Royal Mile. Then another jump where Wanda is shot down into Waverley Station. Which is pleasing, because other films filmed around areas I’m familiar with show right wonky progression.


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Good gravy, that ending! Absolute Chef’s Kiss.

Supergirl

“Hey, don’t write yourself off yet.”



Supergirl is the fourth-highest-grossing superhero movie of 2007, in some timeline. In 2026, it’s a bit of an embarrassment.

It comes across as formulaic, with some glitches in the formula. A lot of the theme work around revenge feels alien and unearned in this movie, exacerbated by the …Edgelord Aesop(?) at the end. The characters feel like they get along or don’t “so the movie can happen.”

Supergirl is the kind of summer movie that knows summer audiences want to see leather chap bandits shoot puppies and abduct child brides. Summer audiences want needle drops that make their most self-satisfied uncles smirk*.

*With one huge exception

Man, all we wanted was to see Krypto flying around acting all cute. And we got about 10 minutes of that in the movie.

Instead we get Baen Books Supergirl, the hard woman making hard decisions shedding a single tear. You don’t want to become like her. She’s haunted by what she’s done. And now it’s time to delight in her milquetoast PG violence*.

*with one huge exception.

Krem the villain would have made hella tips as the Green Knight in Medieval Times. He has the right kind of fake accent slimy swagger to really fill the second act of a Mad Mad movie. Put him in a Highlander sequel and bump it up a star on IMDB. Kind of a waste of time in a Supergirl movie, though.

Lobo. fething Lobo. Long-haired, KISS-make upped, cigar-chomping, hard liquor-chugging, motorcycle-riding, black leather and studs-wearing, laugh in the face of death and/or empathy Lobo. The most 90’s comic book character played by Jason Momoa as the most 90’s rogue antihero. Perfectly cast and acted as the supporting character’s supporting character in a young Nicholas Cage movie. It’s great to see someone who loves his job so much.

If there’s one thing everyone will remember from this movie, it will be the “best” worst needle drop of all time. If Captain Marvel’s “I’m Just A Girl” made you cringe, Supergirl will bust your spleen. Audiences haven’t been this confused or upset since Ari Aster’s latest therapy film. Supergirl couldn’t even get the original artist—the film treats us to a sadder, slower cover, the worst cover since Fall Out Boy’s Ghostbusters. It’s spectacular. I laughed for 40 seconds straight once my brain finally unclenched. In fact a full 50% of the crowd in our theater burst into laughter at that needle drop—the other three people just frowned.

On the other hand, Krypto plays fetch in space. Adorable. Guess that makes Supergirl a 8/10 highly recommended.

Fist of the North Star (1986)

Which is, as far as I can tell, about super buff dudes on post-apocalyptic Earth whose physical size corresponds to the size of their ego wandering around and punching each other because wandering around and punching stuff is what you do in the post-apocalypse. Also about growing flowers and making brains explode.

I was entertained. I laughed a good bit, too. Not sure that was the producers' intention.

Ah ah ah!

Punching each other then exploding in highly amusing ways!

Prime has a new serial of it, and I am thoroughly entertained!


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The Sheep Detectives

Needs Feegles.


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Professor Peculiar In The Wanda Maximoff Movie

Love love love this film, Wanda make a terrific villain, full of tragedy and mourning, driven insane by her grief.

Sam Raimi brought his usual feel, and it works so well here.

Main complaint is America Chavez is kinda sidelined. I mean, the character is there, and serves a central role. But the actress isn’t given a whole lot to do. Hey, at least she does it well though!

Office Day today, and after a 4:30am alarm, I’m pooped.

But…Obsession is now up on Prime. Time to check it out!

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

The Sheep Detectives

Needs Feegles.

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.

Feegles. Pictsies. The Wee Free Men!

Supergirl (2026)

While I'm fond of Helen Slater's movie as a guilty pleasure, Milly Alcock's outing is genuinely an improvement and full of galactic Mad Max style mayhem. While I didn't go as much on last year's Superman, I am now looking forward to his new adventure next year and it's all thanks to Supergirl!

Warning; there is ultimate badassery contained in the final showdown.

Project Hail Mary

Really, really good fun. Nothing like I thought it would be. There’s a serious premise, but it feels like it’s been explored by a D&D group in its goofiness, as in the stakes are real, but they’re determined to have fun with it.

I’m not sure I could call it hard sci-fi as such? And I don’t think it’s really trying to be. But it is keeping one foot in plausible reality, and asking some serious questions in a fun way.

Can definitely recommend.

Sorcerer

A film with a very misleading title, considering it features no magic users whatsoever (Not even someone nicknamed "Sorcerer"), it's actually about a band of desperate men who agree to a job of transporting unstable explosives through the jungle.
Watching it because I saw an article about it, it's one of those films that was absolutely panned upon release but has since been reevaluated as a genuine masterpiece of the filmmakers art. I don't know if I'd go that far, although I really enjoyed it despite not being the kind of film I usually watch, but I guess the true film buffs get even more out of it.