Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

 Year: 2022

Director:  Rian Johnson

Screenplay:  Rian Johnson

Starring:  Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista

Running Time:  139 minutes

Genre:  Mystery, comedy

May 2020:  Tech billionaire Miles Bron (Norton) invites some of his closest friends and rivals to play a murder mystery game on his private greek island.  Celebrated detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) also receives an invitation .  As the weekend progresses it becomes apparent that everyone present has motive to murder Bron, but it becomes increasingly unclear who is the victim and who is the perpetrator.

This enjoyable, lighthearted murder mystery piles on twists and laughs in roughly equal measure.  Daniel Craig reprises his role as detective Benoit Blanc from writer/director Rian Johnson's previous film Knives Out (2019).  The cast, which includes a number of celebrity cameos, including Ethan Hawke, Hugh Grant, Stephen Sondheim, Yo-Yo Ma, Angela Lansbury, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Natasha Lyonne and Serena Williams, all seem to be enjoying themselves immensely, particularly Edward Norton as obnoxious Elon Musk-alike "tech bro" Miles Bron, and Daniel Craig once more adopting an extraordinary Southern accent as the detective Benoit Blanc.  Among the eclectic cast,  Janelle Monáe is the standout as Bron's enigmatic former partner.  Despite a generous running time the film still manages to be consistently funny, as well as having enough twists and turns to satisfy fans of traditional murder-mysterys.  

Daniel Craig and Janelle Monáe in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Hotel Artemis

Year of Release:  2018
Director:  Drew Pearce
Screenplay:  Drew Pearce
Starring:  Jodie Foster, Stirling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum, Brian Tyree Henry, Jenny Slate, Zachary Quinto, Charlie Day, Dave Bautista
Running Time:  94 minutes
Genre: Action, science-fiction, crime

Los Angeles, 2028:  A full-scale citywide riot is in progress over the cost of privatised water.  Under cover of the riot a small crew try, unsuccessfully, to rob a bank.  During the escape, brothers Sherman (Brown) and Lev (Henry) are injured; Lev very seriously.  They go to the Hotel Artemis, a combination hotel and hospital that only treats criminals, run for 22 years by the Nurse (Foster) according to a strict set of rules, with assistant / enforcer Everest (Bautista).  Also in the hotel are racist, misogynist arms dealer Acapulco (Day) and contract killer Nice (Boutella).  The Nurse receives word that crime boss The Wolf King (Goldblum), who owns most of Los Angeles (including the Artemis), is on his way for emergency treatment.  Meanwhile the Nurse takes a huge risk, breaking her own rules to help cop Morgan (Slate), who has a connection to her past.

This is a stylish action, crime-thriller with futuristic overtones and a top-drawer cast.  Set almost entirely in the confines of the hotel, which looks like a decaying Old-Hollywood palace. Jodie Foster turns in a typically strong performance as the vulnerable but strong nurse, Jeff Goldblum has a lot of fun with a comparatively small role, and Sofia Boutella is memorable as the seductive, acrobatic killer.  Stirling K. Brown anchors the film as the essentially decent robber who will do anything to save his brother.  With the hotel given to frequent power outages, characters are often shown in shadowy pools of golden light and occasionally bathed in neon neon and bright red emergency lighting.  We are given glimpses of the nightmare world outside in the news bulletins the characters watch and the frequent explosions in the distance.  There are brief impressions of the world outside Los Angeles (a character talks about taking a chopper "south, over the Wall").  This is not a wall-to wall action film, it is more of a thriller, but when the action comes it is well-staged by debuting director Dave Pearce, and exciting.  The story has few surprises and, despite the big-name cast it looks like quite a low-budget film, but it is a lot of fun, and could become quite a cult film in years to come.

Stirling K. Brown and Sofia Boutella check in to Hotel Artemis     

Blade Runner 2049

Year of Release:  2017
Director:  Denis Villeneuve
Screenplay:  Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, from a story by Hampton Fancher, based on characters from the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Starring:  Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, Dave Bautista, Jared Leto
Running Time:  163 minutes
Genre:  Science-fiction

This is the long-awaited sequel to Blade Runner (1982), one of the most influential science-fiction movies of all time.  The film is set in 2049, where a series of environmental disasters have made the use of biologically engineered artificial humans known as "replicants" a necessity for humanity's survival.  However some of the older model replicants have not integrated and they are hunted down and executed (or "retired") by police "Blade Runner" units.  The film focuses on K. (Gosling), a Blade Runner, and I won't say anything else because it would be something of a spoiler.

This is possibly one of the most visually stunning films that I have ever seen.  It is absolutely beautiful, moving from neon-drenched cityscapes to desolate, grey wasteland, to burnished orange deserts, all swathed in mist, dust, rain and snow.  However, as with the original film, this is a demanding watch, because it is very slow, and long.  It moves at it's own rhythm, and if you can go along with that and surrender yourself to it's spell then it really works.  As with the original the characters tend to get washed out in the visuals.  Ryan Gosling plays his lead role in a similar manner to his role in Drive (2011), Ana de Armas gives the film some much needed heart as Gosling's hologram girlfriend, and it is worth pointing out that, while Harrison Ford does reprise his role from the first film, he does not appear until very late in this film and has little more than an extended cameo.  In fact, Harrison Ford's appearance is something of a spoiler, but he is featured very heavily on the poster and all the publicity for the film.
In many ways, I prefer this to the original, the storyline is intriguing, with an interesting central mystery, and it still tackles the Big Issues about the nature of humanity.  While the length and pace might put off some viewers, I think that this film will find it's audience sooner or later, and there are images and scenes that I think will become iconic in the future.   
See this film, and see it on the biggest screen possible. This is dark, beautiful and intelligent science-fiction.

Ana de Armas and Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049       

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Year of Release:  2017  
Director:  James Gunn
Screenplay:  James Gunn, based on the comic Guardians of the Galaxy created by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Starring:  Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klemetieff, Kurt Russell, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone
Running Time:  136 minutes
Genre:  Science-fiction, action, comedy

The Guardians of the Galaxy are: Peter Quill a.k.a "Starlord" (Pratt) from Earth; ex-assassin Gamora (Saldana); warrior Drax (Bautista); wise-cracking thief Rocket (Cooper)  a genetically modified raccoon; and Groot (Diesel), a plant-like humanoid who is still a sapling, after the events of the first film.  After being hired by the arrogant and easily insulted Sovereign race to defeat a huge inter-dimensional monster, the Guardians find themselves being hunted by them due to Rocket stealing some valuable batteries and insulting their leader, Ayesha (Debicki).  Ayesha hires intergalactic pirate Yondu (Rooker) to hunt them down.  Meanwhile, Quill discovers the truth behind his mysterious origins.

When it was originally released in 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy proved to be a huge surprise.  It was a risky film, even from the mighty Marvel Studios because it was so far removed from the rest of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).  Instead of being a real superhero film, this was an out and out space opera, featuring a talking raccoon, and a walking tree, and the general feeling before release was that it might be too bizarre for general audiences.  However, people loved it.  It was exciting, playful and funny. Director James Gunn does not tamper too much with a winning system in this sequel.  There is all the humour, action, spectacle and '80s tunes that fans could want.  Familiarity may mean that this is not as fresh and surprising as the original, but with the character being more familiar there is more depth to their relationships.  If the first film was about getting the band together, here we see them grow and strengthen.  The performances are good, and there are several welcome additions to the team.  This is a hugely enjoyable film, the pace hardly ever flags despite running well over two hours and it provides solid entertainment.

The Guardians of the Galaxy left to right: Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Pom Klemnetieff, Dave Bautista