Displaying items by tag: Peter Malone's Movie Reviews

APOCALYPSE CLOWN

Ireland, 2023, 100 minutes, Colour.

David Earl, Natalie Palamides, Amy De Bhrun, Fionn Foley, Tadhg Murphy, Ivan Kaye, James Walmsley, Shane O'Brien, Barry McGovern.

Directed by George Kane.

Of course, a variation on Apocalypse Now. The now is 2023 and Apocalypse is comparatively minor – although the opening credits with the focus on earth and the glow suggest something more cosmic. Actually, a solar flare causes an electricity blackout – and there is some minor upset with people coping with the outage.

Response to this film will be very much dependent on one’s sense of humour. Some have found it uproariously funny. Others have found it rather tiresome – and non-Irish coping with accents.

The film was made over a period of 23 days, out and around in Ireland, for a comparatively small budget. A group of friends had worked together in comedy, making some films, and decided to focus on a group of clowns, their personalities, their shtick, interactions, clashes, rivalries, almost in the context of the mini-Apocalypse.

Some of the clowns will appeal, the sad clown performing to children who are taking no notice of him, the vein that clown and his preoccupation with his coming performance, the young female clown who has more than a violent streak. Some of the clowns go to a workshop with a famous French Master, his sardonic remarks and condemnations, and earnest performance by Pepe and his being humiliated. And, then the master collapses and dies.

This is also something of a mini-Apocalypse and bands the clowns together as they attend his funeral in the context of the outage. And to this, a reporter who is dissatisfied with her job, has had a relationship with one of the clowns previously and broken it off, is assigned to the funeral.

The result is a kind of mixed gathering of clowns behaviour is clowns, clowns behaving as human beings with their rivalries and jealousies, encountering people along the way and getting advice getting warnings.

Apocalypse Clown could be described as a cinema oddity – and the filmmakers would not want it to have been called otherwise!

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

US, 2026, 140 minutes, Colour.

Nicholas Galitzine, Camilla Mendez, Idris Elba, Jared Leto, Johannes Hauker Johannessen, Alison Brie, Charlotte Riley, James Purefoy, Dolph Lundgren.

Directed by Travis Knight.

In the 1980s, Masters of the Universe was a Saturday morning television show, a cartoon from Mattei. Then, early in his career, Dolph Lundgren played the central character in a live action version, He-Man.

With the 2020s popularity of remakes of popular shows of the past, here is quite a lavishly produced, 140 minutes version of the cartoon. It might be called a live cartoon version, emphasis on cartoon-styled characters and appearances, performances, idiosyncrasies, very basic dialogue, more than a touch of parody, often setting itself up and expecting the audience to enjoy this kind of adventure.

Masters of the Universe first emerged in the 1980s, the period of Sword and Sorcery adventures rather than an emphasis on superheroes. The hero was He-Man (and, as the new hero starts on his adventures, whom does he encounters but Dolph Lundgren offering advice and challenge!).

This is something of an origin story for He-Man, the background of the kingdom, Castle Greyskull, a very colourful place, some of the trappings gaudy and garish, a King, his queen and little son, Adam, and the expectations of the King that Adam train military fashion, helped by his young friend, Teela, under the command of Duncan, Idris Elba, training the troops.

Then, the invasion, disaster, villain, Skeletor, looking skeletal, played by Jared Leto with a rather rhetorical British accent, and his skeletal and monstrous Lourdes, King and queen, vanquishing the Castle.

The little boy, Adam, is thrust out of the kingdom with the kingdom’s all-powerful sword – but he drops it in a marsh, and finishes up in Oklahoma City, spending 15 years growing up and working in an office, involved in Human Resources, driving many berserk with his continual telling of his story about the search for the sword, threatened by his boss with being fired. But, Adam is now very much a touchy-feely character, pink shirt, a label He/Him on his desk, quietly genial if someone diffident.

But, for fans, all is not lost. Teela finds him, brings him back to the kingdom, training, finding the sword, experience its power, being transformed into a highly muscled and buffed warrior.

Adam is not immediately accepted by the imprisoned members of the kingdom but gradually proves himself, explains that from Human Resources he learned that teamwork is essential and so they prepare to confront Skeletal, lots of battles, Teela often to the rescue, Duncan reviving with energy and leadership, and Adam reconciled with his-father and reunited with his mother.

However, he is transformed and becomes the leader, He-Man, British actor Nicholas Galitzine throwing himself wholeheartedly into playing the genial Adam as well as the warrior He-Man.

This film is an appeal to the fans of old as well as reaching out to the younger generation – but, the scenario and dialogue, the in-jokey references, the touch of parody are very much at the level of enthusiastic 13 to 14-year-old boys.

SCARY MOVIE

US, 2026, 96 minutes, Colour.

Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Farris, Regina Hall, Tatiana Taylor, Kenan Thompson, Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Carmen Electra, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott.

Directed by Michael Tiddes.

Unsubtlety personified!  Thumbnail review – or, perhaps, Inanity personified.

Not that the filmmakers intended the film to be subtle or whatever is the opposite of inanity.

It is 20+ years since the series began and this is number six. In those early days, audiences enjoyed the references to the horror films, the parodies, and some scary moments. But, in 2026, everything is played for laughs rather than scares. And, if the audience is unsubtlety-tolerant, they will enjoy some references to horror films of recent years, the Clown, the Terrifier, but it is all mainly variations on the Scream franchise’s Ghostface, lots of Ghostfaces. Lots of Ghostface situations and menace – and slashings. Some of the veterans from the previous films appear again with references to the past and their performances and status.

At the end of the credits, there is a statement from Keenan Ivory Wayans stating that he lays all responsibility for this film on Marlon Wayans, co-writer and playing a number of roles throughout. Actually, looking at the number of times the name Wayans appears, the film seems to be a family enterprise!

Absolutely-tolerant fans only.

H IS FOR HAWKE

UK, 2026, 109 minutes, Colour.

Clare Foy, Brendan Gleeson, Lindsay Duncan, Denise Gough, Josh Dylan, Sam Spruell.

Directed by Philippa Lowthorpe.

This film is a biography, based on a memoir by scientist and academic, Helen McDonald. The main action takes place in 2007.

While H is for Hawke, it also is for Helen and it is also a letter for Hunter. In the beginning of the film, Helen is on her way to Cambridge University and contacts her photojournalist father to say that she had seen two hawks in-flight. This will become important for her because, as she goes to lunch with a friend, she receives a phone call to say that her father has died. Her father is played by Brendan Gleeson and he will appear in many of the flashbacks in Helen’s memories.

Helen is played by Clare Foy, well-known for her appearance in the series, The Queen. Helen is a very serious young woman, interest in science, interested in her students, walking them to a pub and explaining the history of the area. But, we realise that she is emotionally devastated by the death of her father, becoming more and more depressed. She has been offered a prestigious position in Berlin, she delays, taking refuge in purchasing a goshawk, a hunting hawk, living quietly at home with it, spending hours patiently training it, eventually achieving some success but finding a powerfully strong bond with her hawk, Mabel.

For audiences who enjoy nature, many scenes of the countryside, many scenes with the birds, the hawk, flying, predatory, hunting – which draws some criticism when she leads a seminar, the audience testing her about life and death cycles, animal cruelty, nature red in tooth and claw…

What brings greater humanity to audience appreciation of Helen are the many scenes of flashbacks with her father, genial, usually with coat and tie no matter what commission, photographing bridges over the Thames, sharing an exhilaration with his daughter. Her mother, Lindsay Duncan, is sympathetic and there is her brother, the organising of the father’s funeral and, ultimately, her eulogy.

Given the events shown here in 2007, Helen being very much depressed, very much the recluse, it is surprising to find that she did have the energy and peace of mind to actually write a memoir and to serve, some decades later, as a producer of this film.

1. The title, H also for Hunter, and H for Helen? A memoir?
2. 2007, Cambridge, the university colleges, chapels, the academic world, the accommodation? The musical score?
3. The portrait of Helen McDonald, 2007, science, academic achievement, fellowship, prospects to go to Berlin, the group and taking them to the pub, the historical lecture on the way? Phone call to her father, her looking at the Hawks and describing them to him? Her friendship with Christina, going out for the meal, the phone call, her father’s death?
4. The personality of Helen, introverted, love signs, love of nature, devotion to her father? Love for her mother? Relationship with her brother and her niece – especially to the visit to see Mabel?
5. The impact of her father’s death, sadness, a strong bond with her father, the memories, the flashbacks, as a little girl, later looking through the photo archive with him, the expeditions with him, the origin of the Thames? The effect of the memories on her, British, stiff upper lip, internalising the grief, not manifesting it to others?
6. The personality of her father, large, boisterous, wearing the tire, the camera, jumping out of the car as an accident scene, taking risks, laughing, encouraging his daughter, in his wife visiting Cambridge, looking at the books and smelling them, a larger-than-life character?
7. The personality of her mother, loving, devoted, concerned? Her brother, his family?
8. The later diagnosis of depression, Helen and dealing with depression, seclusion, clothes, leaving the house untidy, forgetting appointments, interaction with the faculty, her prospects in Berlin?
9. Her friend with the Hawks, visiting him, arranging the buying of the Hawke, the argument with the man, her choice? The sequences of training the Hawke, naming her Mabel, in the house, on Helen’s wrist, food, calling her, Christina’s visit, the destruction, Mabel and her flight, success? How her taking to her friend, the various stages of her flying, hunting, killing the rabbit, returning? The sense of achievement, and companionship for Helen?
10. Going to the functions, with Mabel, the polite conversations? Christina reminding her of the seminar, her speech, formal, the interjection, the criticism of hunting, persistence and criticism, Helen’s reaction, replies, nature, hunting, survival, death for everyone?
11. The preparation for the funeral, the meeting with the undertakers, laughing and the themed coffins? Her agreement to do the eulogy?
12. Steve, a good friend, the house, finding Helen on the floor with Mabel, reviving her, cleaning up, encouraging her?
13. Helen, getting help, talking, understanding her situation?
14. The eulogy, the slides, her affirmation of her father, tears, the response of the family and congregation?
15. The aftermath, admitted depression, living with her grief, the experience with Mabel? Letting her go for six months, Helen’s future – and the fact that she wrote a memoir and was a producer on the film?

BACKROOMS

US, 2026, 110 minutes, Colour.

Chiwitel Ejiofor, Renata Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, Robert Bobroczjyi..

Directed by Kane Parsons.

In 2026, movie box office commentators were amazed that two very small budget horror films, written and directed by young men in their 20s, excited the wide public imagination and broke box office records in the first month of their release. The first was Obsession, directed by Curry Barker. The second was Backrooms, written and directed by Kane Parsons, who in his teens, produced films for Youtube, found footage of action in strange rooms. He directed Backrooms when he was 20.

One advantage for this story is the strong leading roles played by veteran Chiwitel Ejiofor as the owner of a large furniture store and Swedish actress, Renate Reinsve as his therapist.

The film opens with some found footage, some strange characters but a strong emphasis on very large rooms which will become the feature of the central action of this film. Clarke, Ejiofor, doesn’t have many customers, has separated from his wife, has gone for counselling. But he engages a friend with a camera to film some commercials, himself as a pirate of olden days.

Sensing something behind the wall of his office, he actually passes through it into those backrooms, the audience exploring with the camera roving, strange rooms, some with odd contents, piles of furniture, staircases, basements, seemingly never-ending. But Clarke can emerge through the wall back into his office.

His idea then is to get the young man and his assistant to go through the walls, filming, exploring. And, eventually persuades the therapist to venture into the backrooms.

And, then it becomes more sinister, a giant pirate captain pursuing Clarke, the therapist more and more lost, more and more terrified – and some violent action.

The screenplay demands some attention at the end, information about a company, since disbanded, creating rooms and experimenting with the human psyche – and, the story of the therapist as a little girl, watching the demolishing of her house with sadness, which was to become the location for the furniture store and the backrooms.

How much of this action is happening in the mind of the therapist?

The film is billed as horror but it is more a film of continued uneasiness, a sense of menace, moments of violence, a tantalisingly curious story.

1. Box office success of the film, the appeal to the younger audience? The origins on YouTube? The age of the director? A film of the 2020s?
2. The YouTube background, clips, found footage? Elaborated in your screenplay? Drama, sense of menace, disorientation, touches of horror?
3. The opening, bewilderment, the found footage, the backrooms? The later explanation of the company, experiments, creativity, failure, observing behaviour?
4. Introduction to Clarke, his furniture store, the vast showroom, no customers, his staff, the filming of the commercial, the pirate captain, his style, Bob as photographer, Kat as assistant? Clerk falling off the chair, the collapse?
5. Clark, to his therapist, Mary, her age, presence, style, questions, getting into dialogue with her as her being his wife, the truth, his drinking, work, blaming others for his failure, as an architect, the shop, leaving the house? His sense of disorientation?
6. The episodes with going through the wall, puzzle, returning, the architecture of the rooms, vastness, the various contacts, the furniture file, the reverse Stop sign, stairs, basements, the various levels, the colour scheme, the whiteness of the walls? The effect on Clark, bewilderment, puzzle, his architects I?
7. His calling in Bob and Kat, the camera, their apprehension, going through the wall, the exploration, lowering Bolt down into the passage, the room, listening the rope, pulling, being dragged down? The effect on Bob and Kat, disappearance?
8. The further bewilderment, the range of rooms, the fastness? The appearance of the giant pirate, the confrontation, Clark and his death?
9. The role of Mary, as a little girl, the house being pulled down, her regrets, the fingerprints in the clay? Her hoping this present? The trauma of the house? The effect on her mind?
10. Mary, at the store, entering through the wall, the confrontations with Clark, the discussions, the tensions, psychological conflict, talking with him as therapist? In the room, the figure of the table, the woman standing, the man in the chair, Clark and his explanations, removing the woman’s school, playing placing it on Mary’s head? The discussions and interactions? The appearance of the giant pirate, killing clerk?
11. Mary, her continuing through the backrooms, the effect, the pursuit of the pirate, her being tracked, his violence, the various rooms and the defence, her escapes, her attacking the pirate? The effect on her, all this happening in her mind?
12. The rescue, Phil, the company, the explanations? The ultimate effect for Mary?

AMRUM

Germany, 2025, 93 minutes, Colour.

Jasper Billerbeck, Laura Tonke, Lisa Hagmeister, Kian Koppke, Lars Jessen Detlev Buck, Matthias Schweighofer, Diane Kruger, Hark Bohm

Directed by Fateh Akin.

Amrum is an island off the north coast of Germany. It is the setting for this 1945s story, the last weeks of World War II, the inhabitants of the island not sympathetic to Hitler, but a strong authoritarian presence on the island.

The story is that of veteran German actor-writer-director, Hark Bohm. He was preparing to direct the film but became ill, relying on his protégé, distinguished German director, Fateh Akin, from Hamburg and of Turkish lineage. In fact, Hark died a few weeks after the release of the film.

His memoir is dramatised in the central character, Nanning, a compelling performance by the young actor, Jasper Billerbeck, in his first film. He is 12. With his brother and sister, his pregnant mother, they have left his father, a Nazi writer on genetic issues, in Hamburg and returned to an ancestral home on Amarum. Nanning Is a member of the Nazi youth, proudly wearing his uniform. His mother is committed to the Nazi vision for Germany.

Nanning has a local friend, Herman, and they share many interests, go to school together,  to help in the fields, hunting rabbits, Nanning having to learn how to degut a rabbit, his pregnant mother in need of meat but with a great desire for white bread and butter with honey. And Nanning makes finding this his quest, scrounging some wheat from a doctor who has it for health purposes, getting some local honey from the beekeepers, being refused butter by a farmer who has been denounced by Nanning’s mother as disloyal. And, he goes to the mainland to the office of the Nazi commander for some sugar.

Then there are the back stories to his mother and father, their denouncing Nanning’s uncle and his engagement to a Jewish fiance who is arrested and sent to a concentration camp. There are stories of the older generation, including his parents, going to New York, liking life there but having to return because of the depression.

And, there is a group of refugees from Poland and eastern Germany coming to settle in the town, confronting Nanning but, a fine sequence when Nanning actually saves the life of the boy who had been tormenting him.

The film offers yet another different perspective on Germany in the war, a focus on ordinary people, their struggles, a humane story challenging as to where are sympathies lie, characters who alienate us with their views, and the story of a young boy who will grow into adult hood in postwar Germany.

1. The work of the director, German stories, the past, his Turkish/German/Hamburg background?
2. World War II films, this film as different, contribution to understanding?
3. The situation, the last weeks of the war, the news of Hitler’s death, the approach of the Russians to Berlin? Nazi support, the hostility to the Nazis on the island? Refugees from Poland and East Germany and settling?
4. The island, off the German coast, the long tradition, inhabitants identifying with the island, those whose families went back to the Island? The town, streets and shops? Across the water and the tide the quicksand to the mainland town, the Nazi headquarters? The countryside, the sand dunes, agriculture, bombs, chickens, bees…? The musical score?
5. The film as a memoir, Hark Bohm and his origins, film career? Writing, intending to direct, ill, Fateh Akin as his protégé, directing, but death soon after the release?
6. Nanning as the centre of the film, aged 12, belonging to the Nazi youth, his uniform, his pride in his father, his father and his books and library, genetics issues? His mother, three children, returning to the island, her husband in Hamburg, pregnant, loyal to the Nazis, the devotion to Hitler? Owning the house with her sister, her sister’s presence?
7. Nanning, his friendship with Herman and sharing the activities, going to school, the situation with the refugees, his being caught in the middle between the Islanders and the refugees, angry, upset, not going to school? His helping with the farm work, Tessa, the possibility for butter, the comments about the Russians nearing Berlin, at the meal, saying the war was ending, his mother upset, upset with Tessa, reporting her to the authorities, the visit by the Nazi officer and threatening her, not allowing Nanning to work for her?
8. The various characters on the island, send gangster, telling his story, the group going to the United States, including Nanning’s mother and father, the uncle wanting to go, in love with Ruth, Nanning’s parents reporting her to the Nazis and her being interned in a concentration camp, the photo, her death? His uncle and the repercussions of what his parents had done?
9. His mother, interactions with her sister, the aunt and her care for the children, the bicycle?
10. The aunt and the need for meat, rabbits, with Herman, trapping, having to hit the rabbits to kill them, taking them to the fisherman, Nanning having to learn how to degut the rabbit? His achievement? Later returning, Sam Gangster, the flatfish and his helping?
11. The mother, wanting to eat white bread, butter and honey? Goal, quest for Nanning? Going to the baker, the issue of wheat, going to the doctor, wheat as medicinal, his receiving a small amount, taking it to the baker? Later with the bees, the making of the honey, his getting some money? The issue for butter, Tessa refusing him? His wanting sugar, going to the Nazi headquarters, the loyalty of the chief, making Nanning recite the Hitler youth code, initial refusal, reciting it, the gift of the sugar? His later return, the officer shooting himself at his desk?
12. With the bike, going across the causeway, sand and rocks, the return, the rising tide, losing the bike, his cap? His aunt’s reaction, explaining the quicksand? His later return, the previous hostility from the boy and the girl, the refugees? Emerging from the water, their threatening him again, his running back into the water, the boy following, caught in the quicksand, unable to swim, Nanning at the boat, cutting the rope, the upset girl, throwing the rope, the boy holding it, the dragging him to the shore?
13. The birth of the baby, the moodiness of his mother, the photo of Hitler, the burning it?
14. Preparing the wheat and honey, his mother’s mood, leaving it in the kitchen, discovering that his young brother had eaten it all, his anger, punching his brother?
15. The aftermath of the end of the war, his mother going to the shop, the coupons not valid, the shopkeeper and his refusal for credit, the stealing the sausage, his pursuit and demanding it, the humiliation?
16. The decision to sell the house, the celebrations of the downfall of the Nazis, his friendship with Herman, the farewell? The father and his being interned by the English?
17. The final image, the older man, on the shore, looking out to sea?

LADIES FIRST

US, 2026, 93 minutes, Colour.

Sacha Baron Cohen, Rosamund Pike, Tom Davis, Emily Mortimer, Werucha Opia, Charles Dance, Fiona Shaw, Richard E.Grant, Kathryn Hunter, Bill Paterson, Ron Cook.

Directed by Thea Sharrock.

There has been a constant popularity in films of role reversals, parents becoming children, children parents, and, sometimes, the role reversals of men and women, being transported into an alternate universe. And that is the case here – but, it is a remake of the 2018 French comedy,. I am not the Easiest of Men which was released at the time of the #Me Too emergence.

Perhaps 2026 is a bit late for Ladies First as some reviewers have suggested. However, as we watch it, the comedy of the men behaving in a female way, was to be subservient, accepting this, exasperated, finding ways to overcome it as well as the comedy of the women behaving in insensitive macho attitudes and manner, it does make its points for a wide audience.

And, this version has many advantages. Who better than Sasha Baron Cohen, memories of Borat and his other films and satires, playing the misogynistic, obnoxiously insensitive male, paying lip service to female executives and ignoring them at meetings, seeing himself as a contemporary Lothario, but remaining male throughout the story, forced to face the macho-women mirror images of his objectifying behaviour. Many tangles, many humorous moments, many satiric barbs – and his finally getting the message.

The other advantage is having Rosamund Pike as the co-star, her two previous films, Now You See Him, Now You Don’t and In the Grey, saw her cast as rather ruthless business women and she draws on this when, after being introduced as a 20 year employee at the firm, receiving a token promotion but ignored at meetings, and then transformed into the hard-hearted executive dramatising and exercising all the ambitious, unscrupulously dominating mirror of male behaviour.

And, there is a strong cast character actors in supporting roles. The usually urbane Charles Dance has become a rather simpering assistant. Kathryn Hunter, rather tiny, a cleaner in the office, always getting in the executive’s way, transforms into a hard-drinking, dominating CEO. Richard E.Grant, is a pigeon-man vagrant who understands the situation, trying to give advice to Sasha Baron Cohen.

Also a plus is the director, Thea Sharrock, who has made the sensitive, The Beautiful Game, as well as the sharp satire of Wicked Little Letters.

So, a whole lot of reversal situations, most of them very funny, but always the consciousness/conscience check that male chauvinism is being sent up as exercised by the women and that the men are experiencing as women, the continued putdowns, targeted male superiority, male exploitation and harassment.

And, for those who enjoy words and play on words, there are all kinds of funny moments and quick quips, Queens Cross instead of King’s Cross, the end of the prayer as a-woman, a variation on frequently used swear word. And, on a broadcast, Pope Beatrice IV.

Sad to say, this kind of comic role reversal, perhaps required somewhat less than in times past, is still very relevant.

MANGO

Denmark, 2025, 96 minutes, Colour.

Josephine Park, Dar Salim, Josephine Hojhbjerg, Sara Jimenez, Paprika Steen.

Directed by Mehdi Avaz.

We all have our dreams. However, some of us are driven by our dreams of success, power, making money – which can turn into a nightmare. But, there are other happy dreams, our hopes and our life.

Mango, a Danish film, combines the elements of the financial dream with romantic comedy, takes us from the busy world of Copenhagen in hotels and restaurants to the sunny mountains, the village life, the mango plantations of Spain, Malaga.

Yes, we have seen many similar films but when one like this is so pleasant, why not another!

The focus is on the efficient and busy Loerka demanded by her imperious boss to go to Malaga, persuade the mango plantation manager to sell out (he is in financial difficulties) and organise the building of a luxury hotel. Loerka takes her unwilling daughter, who has just missed out on a place in an architecture course, and they fly (and an awkward sequence where a mother wants her three-year-old to look at the window and see the plane take off but has an aisle seat and logo is unmoved and unmovable, her daughter exasperated).

The owner of the plantation, Alex, turns out to be charming, a lawyer who is maintaining the plantation after a disastrous fire, is well liked by his workers. And, an immediate clash with logo.

The audience is immersed in Spain, tours of the mandala plantation, the audience almost tasting them, battle of the sexes, battle of wits, concessions on both sides, sense of betrayal, disappointment – except for the daughter who finds a friend and discovers that life in Malaga can be quite happy and exhilarating.

One possibility is for the Danish company to manage the plantation and have a hotel on the property. But, is this a way to fulfil one’s dreams? Of course, there will be a pleasant ending for both logo and Alex – and the two young women as well. And, probably, the sequel would be quite nice…

1. The title, the focus, the plantation, the fruit of the harvest, the threat to the plantation, business and finance? The fruit, the look, the taste, the drinks, products?
2. The Danish production, the Iranian background of the writer-director, the Copenhagen settings, the city? The contrast with Spain, the scenery, the mountains, the village, the plantation? The musical score? And the range of American songs throughout, and the lyrics highlighting the themes?
3. The situation, Loerka, her efficiency, the running of the hotel, the opening, success? Joan, the financial background, her plans, her personality and demands, the plan for Malaga? Ordering Loerka to go?
4. Loerka, her age, career, personality, relationship with her former husband, his marriage and his wife’s pregnancy, her relationship with her daughter, the promised holiday, the daughter missing out on the architectural place? Tensions, on the plane, the issue of not giving up the seat to the woman with the young child? Agnes and her reaction?
5. The task, Malaga, arrival, the streets of steps, the hotel? Loerka going to meet Alex, the mangoade, her response? The initial personality clash?
6. Alex, the back story, lawyer, the fire, the deaths, Paula and his care for her, continuing the plantation, the financial difficulties, the loan? The need to sell? Unwilling? His personality, working with the pickers, popular?
7. The feast of the mangoes, the gathering, the crowds, celebration, singing, speeches?
8. Agnes, her age, resenting her mother, the holiday, missing out on the architectural place, at the plantation, meeting Paula, the tour with her, their bonding, the next day, the outings, the watersports, and feeling at home?
9. Joan, the pressure from Copenhagen, the pressure on Loerka, her plans, the visits, sparring, Loerka and the tour, tasting the mangoes, the situation? Her plan, combining hotel and plantation?
10. Paula and Agnes, fostering the relationship between Alex and Loerka, the episodes, the talking, the night? Alex overhearing the plans, angry? Loerka and Agnes returning to Copenhagen, the effect on Loerka, the confrontation with Joan? Being fired?
11. Alex, signing the contract? 14 days grace? Loerka returning, her going and picking the fruit, Alex suspicious?
12. A year later, Alex and the plantation flourishing, Loerka selling her apartment and supplying the finance, Paula and wanting to be a pilot and her training, Agnes and the designs of the houses, the buildings on the site of the plantation?
13. A likeable film, characters, situation, anti-big businesses ruthlessness, in favour of individuals in dreams? Audiences to be happy were a sequel to be made?

THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU

US, 2026, 132 minutes, Colour.

Pedro Pascal, Brendan Wayne, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Blum, voices of: Jeremy Allen White, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Shirley Henderson, Martin Scorsese.

Directed by Jon Favreau.

It is 50 years since Star Wars surprised the world, delighted audiences, created a whole new perspective on Galaxy fantasies, some wonderful sequels, characters, laser action, the Force, and John Williams majestic score. The 21^st century, some films, but the more recent emphasis has been the television series, the Mandalorian.

One of the creators of The Mandalorian was actor-director, Jon Favreau. Instead of the fourth in the series, he has opted for the big screen. For audiences who have enjoyed the series, familiar characters and material, action, and an opportunity to see it in a cinema atmosphere.

For audiences not familiar with the series, who hark back to the old days of the trilogies, it is something of a surprise. No opening with the galaxy far far away. No John Williams score. And, there is a rather more serious tone compared with the past, 3 CPO and R2D2, a range of strange characters and creatures, Jabba the Hut, Yoda, and we got to know Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Obi Wan Kenobi.

The Mandalorian is played by Pedro Pascal, seen in so many films and television series in recent years. But, he wears armour, is masked. This is something of a barrier to communicating his personality, having to rely on his voice and body language and action (and, in fact, it is Brendan Wayne, John Wayne’s grandson, who is actually in the armour). So no strong personal connection as we used to have with Han Solo.

But, there is Grogu, a diminutive Yoda-like creature, American-cute, but also able to participate in all the action (after he learns to press the right buttons).

But, there is plenty of action, the somewhat brutal introduction to the Mandalorian as a mercenary and his elimination of enemies and the Startroopers. He is employed by Colonel Ward, played by Sigourney Weaver. He has a mission to find the son of Jabba the Hut which leads to a kind of gladiatorial arena fight against monstrous creatures and robots. And, in space, attacks, fights, explosions…

For 21^st-century audiences and series fans, a continuation of what they know. For older 20^th century audiences, not quite what they might have been expecting.

1. 50 years after the beginning of the Star Wars franchise? Through many films, through the Mandalorioan and television series? Continued popularity?
2. The Star Wars Galaxy, the Empire, the Republic, the storm troopers, rebellion, mercenaries and battles? The weaponry, the starships?
3. The continuation of the Mandala and television series? The changes from the original, the different opening, no John Williams score, the more serious tone, the intermittent light touches with Grogu and the small creatures?
4. The hero, armour and masked, the less personalised character, the removal of his mask in the middle of the film, some sense of his humanity?
5. The situation, the Mandalorian and his missions, reputation, for hire, seeing him in action, the fights, the enemy, the board meeting, the pressure of the leader, the subservience of the members, his shooting one of them? The attack by the Mandalorian, the pursuit, the deaths? His return?
6. The importance of Grogu, the foundling, small, American cuteness, Yoda influence? Companion, presence, participating in the action, limited, liked by the audience?
7. Colonel Ward, her control, the mission? The tradition of Jabba the Hut, his son, the twins and their hostility?
8. The Mandalorian and, his mission, wanting the son, the hostility, the situation, the twins, the sinister role of Lord January, his betrayals?
9. The gladiator sequence, creatures, the fights, the Mandalorian and his surrender, the response of the crowds, of Lord Janu?
10. The rescue of the son, the small creatures and their technical skills, chatter, activities?
11. The final flight, the dangers, the attack, explosions, survival?
12. The return, Colonel Ward, her attitudes, to the final mission, Jabba the Hut;s son, final decisions?
13. And the continuity of the story, the characters, the series?

NURSE ON WHEELS

UK, 1963, 85 minutes, Black-and-white.

Juliet Mills, Ronald Lewis, Joan Sims, Noel Purcell, Esma Cannon, Raymond Huntley, Athene Seyler, Norman Rossington, Ronald Howard, Joan Hickson, Renee Houston, Jim Dale, George Woodbridge.

Directed by Gerald Thomas.

A pleasant, old-fashioned British comedy. It was directed by Gerald Thomas taking some time off from making Carry on films. It was written by Norman Hudis who had written the early Carry on films but was giving way to Talbot Rothwell. And, it is very much geared towards the widest audience, only a little innuendo and a spoilt flirtation sequence.

Juliet Mills, in her early 20s, plays a district nurse, new to the district, under suspicion by the patients of the previous nurse, sometimes rude to her, offhand. She is strong-minded, rides a bike, has a driving lesson – and a later driving escapade which proves that she is far better on her bicycle. Ultimately, of course, her patients relent and she is accepted. There is also a romance with Ronald Lewis as a local farmer, sometimes curt, especially to a young man and his pregnant wife who want to park on his land, but, of course, a final reconciliation.

The film is striking for the number of character actors who take the roles generally of the locals, suspicious, hard, gradually relenting. And, there are at least half a dozen regulars from the Carry on films, Joan Sims with a very straightforward role as the vicar’s daughter, Raymond Huntley is the vicar, Jim Dale as the husband, and Joan Hickson as a housekeeper. And, especially, Esma Cannon as the nurses pleasantly dithery as the nurse’s mother.

There is a jaunty theme playing every time the nurse appears on her bike and then more frequently, possibly too often!

Life in English country towns in the early 1960s, the NHS, the district nurse, local doctors, and a variety of local characters.