daily stream: Will Smith pulls himself up by his bootstraps
2006’s The Pursuit of Happyness is on Peacock in the US, Prime in the UK (and other services, too).
San Francisco
The Bad Guys movie review: criminally fun
A snappy, snarky, never-ever sentimental concoction of cartoon chaos meets hip heist flick. Its breezy swagger extends to the delightful animation, organic and mellow, hot and cool at the same time.
Dog movie review: magic mutt
Wounded veterans in reluctant-buddy road trip. Allegedly a comedy, but I don’t see much evidence for that. The schmaltz may be slightly more convincing than the comedy, but it’s a low bar to get over.
Always Be My Maybe movie review: this is how to shake up the tired rom-com
Doesn’t rock the rom-com boat but absolutely delightful anyway. A smart, modern romantic comedy that flips genre scripts and finds a freshness in making room for new voices and new perspectives.
Venom movie review: no teeth, no bite
A dull, dated comic-book clunker that is somehow even smaller and lesser than the sum of its noisy, junky, clichéd bits. So perfunctory that it saps even its excellent cast of all their charisma.
Winchester movie review: she hosts dead people
The story of a fascinating woman retold in the most reductive, least resonant way possible, while actually sidelining her. Even cast as a simple haunted-house tale, it’s not even a little bit scary.
Please Stand By movie review: fan trek
A lovely, gentle geek adventure that appreciates the importance of fandom as a source of inspiration and comfort, with a subtle and resolutely unsentimental performance by Dakota Fanning as an autistic fan.
Big Eyes movie review: painted into a corner
A bitter feminist fairy tale about a woman betrayed by love and trust and crafted by culture to be vulnerable to the charms of a con-artist husband.
a few thoughts about The Man in the High Castle S1
Nazis: I hate these guys. But I adore this show.
Steve Jobs movie review: insanely great (LFF 2015)
You’ve never seen such a compelling, entertaining movie about a genius jerk. As smart and as sleek as a Macbook Pro, and a compulsory bit of modern history.
