The basu! Guide to the Movies

#Dune Tremendous, clean IP-Worldbuilding-vs-The-Future-Of-Cinema fun! Villeneuve at his most Villeneuve-ian here: everything is on such an IMAX-*epic* scale that you can't help but be awed by it all, c'mon people, this is a (half a😇?)movie that's meant to be seen on the biggest screen possible (just don't dwell too long on smaller aspects like characters, motivations, the book's palace intrigue etc. etc. etc.)…yeah, yeah, I know, everyone has a 100" OLED sitting in the comfort of their own home, but it's not the same, trust me, just not the same! I mean, you need to have your ears *blown* out by Zimmer's im/op-pressive score! And that sprawling cast, *all* our favourite people: Zendaya, Bautista, Bardem, Rampling, Brolin, but, man, is Skarsgard a proto-Jabba/Kurtz hoot, Isaac excellent as the loving(?!) father(?!!😲), Momoa kicks a** as only he can, Duncan-Brewster is enigmatically cool, Chalamet is Chal-awesome, and, Ferguson steals the whole dang sho...

#DreamHorse Wonderful, just simply wonderful. *Exactly* the kind of well-crafted, feel-good(-without-resorting-to-cheap-sentimentality) underdog story, filled-to-the-brim-with-colourful-characters-and-superb-actors that the Brits do oh-so well, and that we could all do with a bit more right about now. Fair play to director Lyn, editor Pearson, DP Wilson for making this thing so low-key enjoyable and putting the focus squarely on that awesome gang of actors. Collette is great(as always!), never resorting to caricature, nice to see Lewis on the opposite side of Axe, and some great turns from Phillips, Johnson, and all the rest, but gotta say Teale sorta quietly steals the show(*so* different than his turn on #GameOfThrones😲!). What a great watch, seriously, just fab! - - - #EurosLyn #JamiePearson #ErikAlexanderWilson #ToniCollette #OwenTeale #DamianLewis #KarlJohnson #SianPhillips #NicholasFarrell #DreamAlliance #DarkHorse @dreamhorsemovie @bleeckerstfilms

#NoTimeToDie Best (Allergy-Inducing😰)Bond, Ever! Okay, time for true confessions. Way back when, in the mid-aughts(if you can remember all the way back then), when they announced Craig as the new Bond I was so outraged I actually signed that Change Dot Org CraigNotBond petition. By rights, the great #CliveOwen should've taken over the shaken-not-stirred tux(I mean, had the producers not seen #Croupier…or that awesomely melancholic-heroic #WongKarWai BMW advert?!). And then the #CasinoRoyale…trailer! And, once again, I realised how wrong I was. So, yeah, with apologies to #RogerMoore, DC ended up being the Best Bond, Ever! And now, as his valediction, he gets a more-than-worthy good-bye courtesy of the Director-With-A-Capital-D Fukunaga, who, surprisingly, lets the emotions take precedence over the breathless action (even the single-take stairwell scene isn't too show-offy👍). And that pre-credits sequence, standing O🙌! And the cast is certainly up to the task: Malek(underused...

#TheManySaintsOfNewark Good, clean #Detroit-Meets-#JudasAndTheBlackMessiah-Meets-#TheGodfatherII-By-Way-Of-#CasinoRoyale -Origin-Story fun. The gang you know(and perhaps no longer love😬 after rewatching #TheSopranos as a fellow middle-aged-bathetic-decliner[to paraphrase the NYT, but that's a story for another TBT day!]) is all here! Young … Sil (the hair gets its own origin story, and Magaro from #FirstCow!), Paulie (Magnussen 😂), Pussy, Christophuh, Artie, Carm, and, of course, Tony. Gotta hand it to Gandolfini Jr., the kid does his best filling some pretty impossible shoes👍 Stoll, Farmiga, De Rossi, and especially, Odom Jr.(he's *gotta* get his own spinoff, no?) are all aces. But, man, Nivola, given the opportunity to step up to lead, takes the opportunity with both hands. Been a fan since #FaceOff(*love* that movie!)! And, man, can we get a Liotta-aissance going, it's been simmering since #Narc! And, while we're at it, we *have* to get a sequel to ...