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Wednesday (series season 1-2) – Tim Burton (2022-2025)

These series had been in my Netflix watchlist for a while before I noticed that they are directed by Tim Burton. On IMDb the creators are listed. Is that perhaps because in many series different episodes are not directed by the same persons? I have not checked if Burton directed them all though, but I figured I would credit him.

The Wednesday from the title is Wednesday Addams of the Addams family. She is sent to a Hogwarts type school for “outcasts” where apparently her father and her mother met and where other family members also went to.

Wednesday is a “neo-goth”, grim looking girl with a too large ego. The series are full of the typical Addams family jokes in which the family members enjoy the darker things in life. The series are packed with interesting actors such as Catherine Zeta-Jones, Gwendoline Christie, Steve Buscemi and Billie Piper.

The stories are only mildly interesting, but the Addams family type humour is fairly enjoyable and the Burton atmosphere and stages are good. The result is a bit too ‘teen’ for my liking, but I suppose when the announced third series are available, I might watch them at some point.

Ballerina – Len Wiseman (2025)

I am not a big fan of the John Wick franchise and I am afraid that “Ballerina” is no exception.

Eve’s father is killed by a group of guns for hire. She is transferred to an organisation that teaches her both the arts of ballet and of killing. When she runs into a man who has the same scar as the man who killed her father, Eve sets out to find this shadowy organisation to get revenge.

So, your usual bloody fighting scenes, this time of a one woman army. Eve does run into John Wick as well.

A 13 in a dozen movie. The only positive thing about the film is the presence of Ian McShane and Gabriel Byrne.

The Woman In Cabin 10 – Simon Stone (2025)

We were looking for a short film and this ‘number one in the Netherlands’ is 95 minutes. But why is this ‘number one’?

Journalist Laura joins a luxury cruise of a wealthy businessman to report about a cancer fund for the businessman’s wife. Laura runs into a strange scheme which seems to imply that the money is not going to the fund of the wife with leukemia, but to her husband.

A not too interesting thriller.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – Christopher McQuarrie (2025)

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Is this the first MI that I review? I thought I also saw (some of) the rest. Perhaps never an entire film, or just parts on TV? Well, after “The Final Reckoning” I might never watch the rest of the franchise… This final film is fairly weak.

Tom Cruise is of course Ethan Hunt, who is both lauded and despised by his (former) employer, the secret service. He is again retired, but hired, because he is the only one who can prevent a world catastrophe.

That catastrophe is fairly dull. Some AI virus has taken over the world wide web and plans to use the nuclear arsenal to wipe out humanity. Hunt flies over the world to try to prevent that. The story, the acting and several of the scenes are quite unconvincing…

Bodies (series) – Fortune/Haas/Okafor (2023)

In different times a naked, dead body is found at the same spot in Whitechapel. The different inspectors assigned to the case discover all kinds of strange details. The body is shot in the eye, but there is no bullet and later inspectors discover the earlier cases.

In a quite amusing story that reminds a bit of “Dark” the creators slowly explain the happenings. The story becomes rather complex, a bit too much so to satisfactorily wrap things up in the last episode perhaps.

Yet all in all “Bodies” is certainly one of the better (mini) series that I saw recently.

Lions For Lambs – Robert Redford (2007)

Remembering Robert Redford (1936-2025) I picked a film that was directed by him and has himself as an actor. “Lions For Lambs” is a complex film. Not that the story is complex, but the subject it deals with is.

In spite of American presence in Afghanistan, the Taliban is slowly taking back control. Leaving is not an option (which is explained during the film), so senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) has a bold plan to take back control.

Irving wants the public to be on his side, so he invites journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) for an unusually long and detailed interview. This is one element of the film.

In other part, we see the soldiers who are to execute Irving’s plan. Then we have university professor Stephen Malley (Redford) who tries to convince a promising student to take an active role in the debate about the matter.

The complex subject is lighted from all sides giving a fair idea of the dilemmas of politics.

Relay – David Mackenzie (2024)

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Sarah (Lilly James) took files from her former employer which prove a massive cover up. Seeing her life in danger she changes her mind and finds the help of Ash (Riz Ahmed) to return the documents with the assurance of being left alone.

“Relay” opens right in the middle of the tension. A very interesting cat and mouse game unfolds in which Ash is trying to turn things for the better for his client. Resourceful as he is, he keeps Sarah’s followers at bay.

“Relay” could have been an entertaining film, had Mackenzie not thought it a good idea to make an awful plot twist towards the end.

Old Guy – Simon West (2024)

Quite like Pierce Brosnan in “Fast Charlie“, a very amusing Christoph Waltz gets to play an over aged contract killer who wants to show that he still has it.

Danny Dolinsky (Waltz) works for “London”, some crime syndicate, to do the dirty work. He is forced to train a young and upcoming prodigy, which of course means replacement. After a few mistakes, Dolinsky steals the show.

A fairly amusing action comedy.

The Amateur – James Hawes (2025)

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I must say that the cast gave me higher expectations…

Rami Malek plays Heller, a data security nerd working for the CIA. His wife gets killed while on a business trip, he uses his permissions to investigate the matter quicker than his boss. Then he finds out that his boss is involved in unauthorised activities. He decides to blackmail his boss in order to get after the killers of his wife.

Trained by Henderson (Laurence Fishburne), he escapes and proves to be more inventive than expected. A fairly predictive and not too interesting thriller unfolds.

Lucky Logan – Steven Soderbergh (2017)

Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) is in need of money and comes up with a plan to rob the local race track. He consults his brother (an amusing Adam Driver) and recruits Joe Bang (an even more amusing Daniel Graig) to pull off their elaborate plan.

The plan is to use the mine where Jimmy used to work to access the safe of the race track. Together with a few extras, the three set out to complete this massive heist.

The film has a bit of a Red Neck Wester Virginia humour with funny dialogues. The robery is planned and executed with a few problems. Too bad that all the way at the end Soderbergh felt the need to explain why things were even more complex as it already seemed.