Writer's Block

  The Little Mermaid I have not seen the original Little Mermaid for something like 25 years. This probably aided my general enjoyment of yet another Disney remake, as I imagine that more diehard fans of the original would find more to fault here than I did. Having said that, some of the alterations worked for me such as the decision to give Prince Eric more backstory and a new song. Halle Bailey is perfectly cast as Ariel (regardless of what the internet’s worst arseholes will have you believe) and the quality of her singing is a match for the original. The highlight of the entire film is probably the moment when the crescendo of “Part Of Your World” hits, the waves crash against the shore and you’re fleetingly reminded of when Disney could still stir the soul. There’s an enjoyable performance too from Melissa McCartney as Ursula who brings a certain amount of fun to one of the House of Mouse’s greatest pantomime villains. Unfortunately, what these films lose in the transiti...

  NT Live: Good David Tennant plays John Halder, a German professor, intellectual and ostensibly “good” man whose noble qualities are eroded over time as he eventually becomes seduced and co-opted by the Nazi Party. Elliot Levey and Sharon Small both play multiple roles, including Halder’s Jewish friend Maurice and his wife and mother. It’s certainly a role that benefits from having the stage presence and charisma of someone like Tennant and there is something undeniably chilling about seeing his character step into an SS uniform at the climax of the show. However, despite the quality of the performances (Halder’s discussions with an increasingly incredulous Maurice were the highlights), this didn’t quite do it for me. A friend of mine is a teacher who has previously expressed the view that she’s sick to death of World War 2 and my familiarity factored into my experience here. As someone who has probably watched enough war related content for several lifetimes, I felt it had ve...

  The Super Mario Bros Movie My grandad bought me a Super Nintendo Entertainment System when I was very young. I sulked, as I wanted a Sega Megadrive, having heard a lot about a blue hedgehog who seemed pretty cool. About five minutes into playing Super Mario All Stars (a remastered collection of the first three Mario games originally released on the Nintendo Entertainment System), I realised that he had chosen wisely. Nintendo has been a part of my life ever since and in the world of pop culture, perhaps only The Simpsons has had a greater impact on me. Three decades since the last and frankly risible attempt to make a Super Mario film, Nintendo are back with the assistance of Illumination for another go. Mario is the most famous video game character of all time for a reason. A moustachioed everyman motivated by nothing more than a desire to defeat the evil Bowser to save Princess Peach, he’s the perfect avatar for the player to project themselves into. What makes him a great ...

Cocaine Bear My theory was that this film was either going to be magnificent or terrible and it’s something of a disappointment that it turned out to be neither. It’s nice to see Character Actress Margot Martindale on the big screen and she provides the most entertaining performance in the movie as a sassy park ranger. She and the rest of the cast aren’t given a tremendous amount to work with script wise, as jokes about “dusty beavers” demonstrate. Nonetheless, I also enjoyed the film debut of Scott Seiss, whose comedic employment based TikToks have become so popular that even I have heard of them. He and Martindale are involved in by the far the film’s best sequence, a ludicrous vehicle chase that ends in a memorable if somewhat gory fashion. It’s probably the only section where the film truly commits to the ludicrous nature of its premise and the remainder is largely dull by comparison. Phil Lord and Chris Miller have producer credits here and it’s a shame that there’s a lack of...

  The Fabelmans The film follows Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), a young aspiring filmmaker dedicated to his craft who must negotiate the challenges posed by familial strife. Any resemblance to a real director is I presume entirely coincidental. One of my issues with the family early on is that they’re almost insufferably twee and not a great deal of interest seems to happen. The film’s central familial conflict feels somewhat implausible and is centred around Sammy’s mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams). I have enjoyed Williams’ work in the past but found her overwrought, hysterical performance here rather offputting.   Thank goodness then that Uncle Boris (Hirsch) arrives to drop a grenade into proceedings, explaining his own history with film and the arts and underlining Sammy’s forthcoming dilemma. He decides to get to work on his highest scale production to date, a war epic. These are the most joyous shots in the movie, teeming with invention especially in the deploym...