Watching - August 2026

Rush (2013)

I think I first heard that this film was being made two years before it was released, and at the time I didn't know who Chris Hemsworth was (not having got on board with the MCU thing at that point). I don't remember seeing the F1 races in the mid-70s but it can't have been much later that I was reading everything I could about them, and this was the era I knew about. So the prospect of the film was very tantalising, and I was not disappointed, neither am I still. This is a great film, with layers and enough detail to bear rewatching. Last time I watched this I said that Niki Lauda was the real legend (and he is) but I'll go further this time and observe that this is actually Lauda's film, something reinforced when I watched the extras and the screenwriter, Peter Morgan, said that Lauda was an acquaintance.

Memento (2000)

This is where the Christopher Nolan reputation really started, I think. I'm not a Nolan fan but it's hard not to respect the fact that he makes intelligent films and is successful at it, in a market where that largely seems to have been forgone. I think his films tend to flatter the audience - you think, "oh, I get it, blimey, I'm clever, aren't I?" - but that doesn't mean that they aren't good. I remember seeing this for the first time, with no fore-knowledge, and finding it intriguing. This time round, it's still great seeing how the pieces all mesh into each other. I then watched the DVD extra of all the scenes in chronological order, and it's a pretty decent film that way round too.

The Fast and the Furious (2001)

The title makes no sense, the plot is somewhat sketchy in places, yeah it's transparently Point Break with cars - but it's hard to deny the fun factor.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021)

Comfort viewing!

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Family choice for pizza night - which everyone else had seen before, apart from me, and was enthusiastically recommending. Having watched it, I'm not sure why. The plot follows a very predictable path and the whole thing is set in an environment that I don't find remotely interesting or worth caring about. Some might argue that the film is ridiculing the fashion world (and Vogue and Anna Wintour in particular), but, obviously, it's intentionally glamourising it - the toxic boss, the abused assistant, and the obsession with surface sheen (the film made Wintour an icon when it should have made her an outcast, if this is how she really behaves). And equally obviously, that's what people love - the sequel isn't set in a newsroom, is it? I'm not sure why this offends me more than, say, the glamourisation of illegal street racing in The Fast and The Furious. I think it's probably because while F&F is clearly - to most intelligent adults - just fantasy, this is supposed to be aspirational.

The Odyssey (2026)

I've described editorial immunity syndrome before (although I've just invented the name!): it's when an artist is sufficiently successful that they can't be told to abridge their works, and it rarely results in better art. Christopher Nolan is now clearly suffering from this, unfortunately. The Odyssey is an over-blown, over-sold, over-long, over-loud mess. I can't speak about the film's fidelity to the original story and themes (although Emily Wilson, the author of a recently translation that Nolan claims to have been inspired by, is entertainingly scathing). What I can say is that, once you get past the impressive staging and cinematography, what's left is a few set pieces but nothing to really engage the emotions. If Nolan was less interested in deafening us and showing off his directorial skills in fight and storm scenes, perhaps we'd get a more interesting film.

Deadpool (2016)

Wince-inducingly graphic at times (although actually not as much as an episode of House I watched recently) but never less than very funny. The fourth-wall-breaking could be a little less prevalent and the jumping around the timeline obscures a fairly simple plot, but it's still hugely entertaining.

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

The first film was not exactly high art, but this makes no sense at all. Terrible.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

Unlike the second F&F installment, which comes across as having been written by 14 year olds, this does at least seem to have been produced by adults - albeit for 14 year olds. There are details that are fudged, but in general it's a much better film. And finally we get Vin Diesel back!