It Chapter Two

Year of Release:  2019
Director:  Andy Muschietti
Screenplay:  Gary Dauberman, based on the novel It by Stephen King
Starring:  Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Bill Skarsgard
Running Time:  169 minutes
Genre:  Horror

Twenty seven years after the Loser's Club confronted the evil shapeshifting "It", the killings and disappearances start again in the small town of Derry, Maine.  The town's librarian, Mike Hanlon (Mustafa), believes that It has once again resurfaced, and contacts the rest of the Loser's Club: Horror writer Bill Denbrough (McAvoy), fashion designer Beverley Marsh (Chastain), architect Ben Hanscom (Ryan), stand-up comedian Richie Tozier (Hader), businessman Stanley Uris (Bean) and risk assessor Eddie Kaspbrack (Ransone).  All of them vowed to return if It appeared again, but now they have forgotten that long-ago summer, and as adults may not be able to recapture the power that kept them alive as children.

The 2017 film It went on to become the highest grossing horror film of all time, and so a sequel was inevitable, although this isn't really a sequel, because the first film only adapted the first part of Stephen King's mammoth bestseller, and this film adapts the conclusion.  This is long, unwieldy and has some great moments but, when it's bad, it is really really bad.  One of the main problems is that it is never particularly scary.  Bill Skarsgard does well for the most part as Pennywise the Dancing Clown (It's favourite form) and his scene with a girl at a baseball field is genuinely chilling, but he sometimes verges on just being goofy.  It has numerous opportunities to kill the Loser's Club which It doesn't take.  Also it is full of surprisingly bad CGI, which looks more like something from a video game.  Also it is full of misplaced, clunky humour, which evaporates any tension or suspense.  There is a running joke throughout the film where Bill's novels are criticised for their weak endings, another gag involves a reference to The Thing (1982).  The cast are mostly okay, with Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy being the standouts, although Bill Hader has some powerful moments.  The thing is that the characters are affecting as children in the first film, but are much less so here where they are adults in their forties.  Also they come across as pretty obnoxious at times.  The child actors from the first film (Chosen Jacobs as Mike, Jaeden Lieberher as Bill, Sophia Lillis as Beverley, Jeremy Ray Taylor as Ben, Finn Wolfhard as  Richie, Wyatt Olef as Stan and Jack Dylan Grazer as Eddie) reprise their roles in the many flashback scenes.  Stephen King has a small role as the proprietor of a secondhand shop and acclaimed director Peter Bogdanovich has a cameo as a director, working on an adaptation of one of Bill's books.
The film opens very strongly and the ending has real emotional weight, and there are some good moments sprinkled throughout.  Mostly however it is pretty disappointing.

Bill Skarsgard in It Chapter Two

Molly's Game

Year of Release:  2017
Director:  Aaron Sorkin
Screenplay:  Aaron Sorkin, based on the book Molly's Game by Molly Bloom
Starring:  Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Chris O'Dowd, Bill Camp
Running Time:  140 minutes
Genre:  Crime, drama

Molly Bloom (Chastain) is a world-class skier, who is severely injured while trying to qualify for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, ending her athletic career.  Molly moves to Los Angeles where, after several low-paid jobs, she ends up as a secretary for an obnoxious, unsuccessful real estate agent (Strong) who asks Molly to run his weekly high-stakes poker game.  The game regularly attracts very wealthy and very famous individuals, including movie stars and sports stars, and Molly is soon earning  a lot of money.  When she is unceremoniously sacked by her boss, Molly starts running her own game, but soon finds herself in serious trouble with both the Mob and the FBI.

Based on a true story, this is a hugely enjoyable thriller.  With a witty, complex and intelligent script, and slick, dynamic direction from Aaron Sorkin, Jessica Chastain gives a truly great performance as Molly, who owns the entire film.  This is Molly's story and the other characters don't really get fleshed out, with Kevin Costner in particular never really getting much to do as her overbearing father.  Idris Elba however, gives a typically suave performance as Molly's lawyer, and he and Chastain have brilliant chemistry together.  Personally, I have never had any real interest in poker, I've never played it and don't really know anything about it, but the film makes the gaming scenes not only understandable for a newcomer, but genuinely exciting.  Even though there were times where I could see where the story was going, and there aren't many surprises, with a running time of well over two hours, this is a fast-paced film with not a scene or a line wasted.

Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba play Molly's Game       

The Martian

Year of Release:  2015
Director:  Ridley Scott
Screenplay:  Drew Goddard, based on the novel The Martian by Andy Weir
Starring:  Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Donald Glover, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie
Running Time:  141 minutes
Genre:  science-fiction, drama

This thrilling science-fiction survival story is adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Andy Weir.  The manned Ares III mission on Mars is aborted early due to a violent storm, during the evacuation, astronaut Mark Watney (Damon) is hit by a piece of debris and, presumed dead, is left behind on the surface of Mars.  Watney finds himself completely alone on a desolate planet, and faced with finding a way to get in contact with Earth, and keeping himself alive long enough to be rescued, with a rapidly diminishing supply of food, drink and air.

The film moves between Watney's desperate attempts to survive on Mars and the efforts back on Earth to retrieve him.  It's an exciting, straightforward story, which is gripping, despite the fact that it is basically about one man alone on a planet.  Matt Damon makes Watney a likeable and engaging anchor for the film, and he has strong support from a large and impressive cast.  It benefits from the switching back and forth between Mars, Earth and the mission's spaceship, opening up the narrative and making it far more than a one man show.  It's a deeply human film, about people trying to save one life.  All the conflict in the film comes from people arguing about how best to do that.

It is worth pointing out that this is a science-fiction film but there are no aliens or killer robots or anything like that, instead it tries to be relatively realistic.  Although it is worth pointing out that in reality, a Martian storm would only really be like a light breeze, rather than the raging hurricane depicted in the film.

By and large it is pretty faithful to the Weir novel and the dialogue is witty and there is plenty of humour to alleviate the tension, and quirky and amusing details such as the frequent 1970s songs on the soundtrack (the only music that Watney has available to him in his shelter).

Aside from a couple of moments of introspection there is little of the angst and despair that the situation might engender, which strikes a bit of a false note.  However this is a hugely enjoyable film.

 
    Matt Damon is The Martian