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The Odyssey – Christopher Nolan (2026)

I feared for a flood of Hollywood pomp and spectacle, perhaps even the usual American patriotism, but Nolan ‘just’ made a beautiful version of one of the most famous stories from Greek antiquity.

We follow Odysseus, brilliantly played by Matt Damon. For some reason Odysseus is a king, but also a soldier in another man’s army (Agamemnon). He was part of the famous invasion of Troy and came up with the idea of the horse that contained his army.

The “Odyssey” comes after Troy. Agamemnon and his troops won, thanks to Odysseus, and are sailing home. Odysseus decides to take another route, but he made things very difficult for himself and his crew.

The men encounter a Cyclop (an interesting scene which could have been made much more spectacular, but Nolan fortunately did not do that), giant knights, monsters and they even have to sail to Hades to get further directions, while the crew keeps shrinking.

On top of all, Odysseus has been away from home for so long, that everybody thinks he is dead. “Courters” try to marry his wife (and become king), while his son is not yet of an age to do that himself.

Politics, drama, spectacle, but all without too much Hollywood bombast. “The Odyssey” is indeed a very good film.

The Contractor – Josef Rusnak (2007)

Wesley Snipes plays an ex-CIA agent who is hired to take out a terrorist who might be a problem for the US government. After fulfilling the assignment, he soon realises that he was set up and is now hunted by both the British and American secret services.

Somewhat interesting to the story is that the actual shooting takes place all the way in the beginning of the film and that the res of the movie is about who Snipes’ character tries to prevent from being apprehended.

Not great, not boring.

The Expanse (serie) – Fegus/Ostby/Abraham (2015-2022)

A long time I had to find a new series and “The Expanse” seemed like an option. The series start as a complex science fiction space series with too many different story lines. It was hard to follow, but entertaining enough to keep watching.

New storylines kept being added, new characters introduced. There are a few constants. There is an ongoing struggle between the people of Earth, those who live on Mars and those who live in “the Belt”. Earth is governed by the UN, most of the time helmed by Chrisjen Avasarala. Then we have a space ship with outcast heroes. The ship is called “Rocinante” or “Roci”.

Warfare, politics, personal drama. Six seasons full of stories that are sometimes hard to follow. The special effects often look too computerised and there are quite a few elements that simply do not make sense.

Overal “The Expanse” is a fairly entertaining series that suddenly stops (with a cliffhanger). I was not really disappointed when it it. One or two seasons that were worked out better, would have sufficed.

Smokin’ Aces – Joe Carnahan (2006)

  • crime

A not too convincing crime action comedy.

Prime witness Buddy Israel can take down the entire maffia, so he needs to be protected by the FBI. Needless to say that the maffia wants him dead. They put out an enormous bounty on his head and different groups of hip contract killers set out to shoot the man.

Hidden in a penthouse, everybody soon knows where to go to to get the job done. Of course this ends in a chaotic shootout.

The film is fairly enjoyable, until towards the end, the creator thought that it was needed to introduce a major plot twist that also needed explaining.

Angel Eyes – Luis Mandoki (2001)

  • drama

Jennifer Lopez plays Sharon Pogue, a tough and fast-mouthed police officer, but with some issues from the past. A broken man whom she helped during a big crash of cars earlier runs into her and even though he is (or became) very introvert, he tries to make contact.

I was actually looking for an action movie, but “Angel Eyes” is more of a romantic drama with a few police thriller elements. The acting is good though and the film is an alright watch.

The Little Things – John Lee Hancock (2021)

Acting veteran Denzel Washington shares the screen with relative newcomer Rami Malek and this is exactly their relationship in the film.

Washington’s character is sent for ‘arrents’ to the district where he used to work. He meets the young investigator played by Malek and stumbles into a serial killer case that is very similar to the one that costed his sanity.

Of course he cannot let things go and the two actors for an unlikely couple trying to solve the case. When a suspect surfaces, the story gets an interesting twist.

An alright cat-and-mouse thriller.

Cold Storage – Jonny Campbell (2026)

  • horror

A bit of a new take on the zombie horror genre. Some virus has long been contained in a military facility, but that facility has been sold and turned into self storage. Needless to say that the virus manages to get out and turns both people and animals into exploding green blobs.

Liam Neeson was there when the virus was discovered and he is determined to contain it when it surfaces again.

The story is somewhat original for the genre and in general the film is amusing, but that is basically it: amusing.

Les Morsures de l’Aube – Antoine de Caunes (2001)

  • horror

A somewhat amusing lucky find on Netflix. A French ‘Vampire noir’ with Asia Argento in one of the main parts.

The night-crawling homeless swindler Antoine is asked to find a certain person. He dives into the world of S&M parties and clubs as it seems that this is where that person can be found. He finds the sister (Argento’s part) and eventually the man he is looking for.

The title translates to “the bites of dawn”, but the international title is the corny “Love Bites”. It starts as a nice ‘film noir’ and slowly becomes more of a horror.

“Les Morsures de l’Aube” is not a masterpiece, but it is an amusing film that reminds of bit of the style of Asia’s father: “giallo”.

Tasher Desh – Qaushiq Mukherjee (2012)

The pretty over-the-top Indian film with the international title “The Land of Cards” reminded me of “Gandu” and indeed, it is from the same director.

Very fast montage, bright colours, strange scenes, Mukherjee presented another experimental film. It is based on the famous play with the same name by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941).

A young prince get tired of his luxury life and with his brother he travels to another land, the structure of which is based on the common card game, inhabited by wonderfully weird characters. The two newcomers cause a drastic change in the society of card.

Not a masterpiece, but I am glad that Netflix also offers experimental films. “Tasher Desh” is an interesting watch.

Project Hail Mary – Lord/Miller (2026)

I thought to remember that this film did not get too great ratings, but when I write this, the IMDb score is 8.4. Well, it is not that good.

An amusing Ryan Gosling plays Ryland Grace who finds himself alone on a spaceship far away from earth. In flashbacks we get the story of this strange situation.

All suns seem to be dying out, all but one. A mission is sent to that star to see if there are clues to save our own son.

The usual spectacle, drama and some humour. The story is perhaps a bit ‘too big’ and could have been thought through a little better here and there, but “Project Hail Mary” is an amusing watch.