Film reviews

An archive of The Medium is Not Enough’s film reviews

Film reviews

Covideodrome: Just Mercy (2019)

4 June 2020 Rob Buckley Post a comment

A temporary replacement for TMINE’s Orange Thursday feature in which I review a readily available movie you’ve probably already seen

It’s funny what a difference a couple of weeks makes. When I watched this over the Bank Holiday weekend in May, Just Mercy (2019) was just a movie about an important subject – something more or less in the same vein as The Banker (2020), being about historic discrimination against African-Americans.

It was a bit more potent than The Banker, however, seeing as it also directly addressed the issue of capital punishment in the modern day, particularly in southern states like Alabama that have a 10% inaccuracy rate when it comes to Death Row prisoners. But that was more or less its scope.

But with the current situation in America, Just Mercy is taking on new significance, since it’s also an indictment of racism and the police’s attitudes to black people, particularly black men. In the US, Warner Bros is making the movie free on all digital platforms for the whole of June.

That’s apparently a step too far for the rest of the world – apparently, whatever lessons the movie has to offer that make it important everyone see it in the US aren’t applicable elsewhere – so you’re all going to have to pay to watch this real-life story about a Harvard lawyer (Michael B Jordan) who decides to open a service in Alabama dedicated to correcting judicial injustices, starting with the wrongful incarceration of small business owner Jamie Foxx.

I’ll let you know if it’s worth it after the trailer and the jump.

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Film reviews

Question of the week: what’s your favourite Bond movie and why?

19 May 2020 Rob Buckley 10 Comments

This is a question I was mulling over the weekend. Most “what’s your favourite…?” Bond questions are inevitably about your favourite actor to play James Bond; the movie’s themselves seem to be after-thoughts, mere vehicles for the characters rather than movies in their own rights.

Which isn’t fair to the talented movie makers who made them. So let’s sort that out. Tell me your favourite Bond movie and why it’s your favourite. To help, here’s the list of all of them in (more or less) chronological order, followed by my choice of best Bond movie.

Canon

Sean Connery

  • Dr No (1962)
  • From Russia with Love (1963)
  • Goldfinger (1964)
  • Thunderball (1965)
  • You Only Live Twice (1967)
  • Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

George Lazenby

  • On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

Roger Moore

  • Live and Let Die (1973)
  • The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
  • The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
  • Moonraker (1979)
  • For Your Eyes Only (1981)
  • Octopussy (1983)
  • A View to a Kill (1985)

Timothy Dalton

  • The Living Daylights (1987)
  • Licence to Kill (1989)

Pierce Brosnan

  • GoldenEye (1995)
  • Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
  • The World Is Not Enough (1999)
  • Die Another Day (2002)

Daniel Craig

  • Casino Royale (2006)
  • Quantum of Solace (2008)
  • Skyfall (2012)
  • Spectre (2015)

Not canon

  • Casino Royale (1967)
  • Never Say Never Again (1983)
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Film reviews

Covideodrome: Extraction (2020)

13 May 2020 Rob Buckley 15 Comments

A temporary replacement for TMINE’s Orange Thursday feature in which I review a readily available movie you’ve probably already seen

The second of TMINE’s new Covideodrome movie review feature – aka “We watching whatever’s available and we don’t have to pay for” – is Extraction (2020), Netflix’s latest big budget movie, which stars Chris Hemsworth. Here’s the plot:

A hardened mercenary’s mission becomes a soul-searching race to survive when he’s sent into Bangladesh to rescue a drug lord’s kidnapped son

Netflix

Adapted by Joe Russo from his and his brother’s (yes, those Russo Brothers) graphic novel of the same name and directed by their long-time stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave, it’s predicted to be Netflix’s biggest ever premiere, with 90 million households watching it. But should you?

Here’s a trailer to help you decide, with a review coming not long afterwards.

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Movies you should own

Covideodrome: Sliding Doors (1998)

16 April 2020 Rob Buckley 10 Comments

A temporary replacement for TMINE’s Orange Thursday feature in which I review a readily available movie you’ve probably already seen

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt over the past few weeks, it’s that being stuck indoors all day makes it really hard to watch TV. Not only is there paradoxically less time than normal to watch things, I also have less inclination and focus for it.

Even Wittertainment’s Simon Mayo confesses he’s finding it hard to muster his attention sufficiently to watch movies at home. And he’s paid to do it for the BBC’s flagship film programme.

That’s before we start thinking about the fact there aren’t even any new movies coming out at the cinemas any more. Or cinemas.

As a result, TMINE’s Orange Thursday feature – in which I review a couple of movies every week – has withered on the vine of late. Sorry about that.

But not to worry. Because here’s a replacement: Covideodrome, in which I review (whenever the inclination grabs me) a movie, maybe on a streaming service, maybe on TV, maybe even on DVD, that we’ve all probably seen so can talk about. I might take in a few new movies, too. And it’ll happen when it happens. No pressure.

First up is Sliding Doors (1998), a movie you’ve almost certainly watched, probably when you were younger and maybe even hipper (is that possible?), but which you probably haven’t rewatched since – but probably should.

That’ll be coming up after the jump. But first, the trailer. No ads, because we’re not at the cinema obvs and we’re using streaming services. I’m surprised this whole blog post doesn’t just autoplay.

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Film reviews

Orange Thursday: The Banker (2020)

26 March 2020 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Despite (theoretically) having more time to watch movies since The Event, the lack of open cinemas and good new things to watch on the streaming services has severely cramped Orange Thursday’s style. So there’s only one movie being reviewed today.

All the same, we do have the first Apple TV+ movie to peruse, The Banker (2020). Based on a true story, it sees Anthony Mackie and Samuel L Jackson going into business together in an effort to make money – and maybe help other African-Americans make money – in the 1960s.

Don’t worry: it’s better than it sounds.

See you after the ads and the trailers.

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