Boldly go where..

Ulysses (Matt Damon) in the movie of the same (The Odyssey) name wins the Trojan War through deception .. but is it his guilt or his sense of adventure.. the irresistible draw of the unconquered unknown.. that draws him to perhaps the most perilous discretionary voyage in the history of mythology. While wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) fends off suitors, and son Telemachus (Tom Holland) shows all the hesitancy of coming of age, our protagonist, in spite of the close counsel of Athena (Zendaya), careens from one tragedy to the other - Circe to Calypso (Charilze Thereon) of the lotus eaters, to the terror of the multi headed Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis. Nolan brings the same grayscale and foreboding as Interstellar, while the many oil lamps and rough hewn architecture detract from any insinuation of "too much special effects". Overall a great movie and a must watch, but not one of the soul stirring Interstellar types that truly stand the test of time

16.5/20

Calling upon a Void

A father - William Russell (Bill Skadsgard) - returns from the Solomon Islands, World War 2, traumatized by the experience of killing, out of necessity, a comrade. Sets up a family with a waitress (Charlotte (Haley Bennett)). The devout Will finds his prayers unanswered - his son gets bullied and the wife (in spite of a "dog sacrifice") dies of cancer. And Will in his implacable devoutness takes his life. This begins the life of Arvin Russell (Tom Holland) in the movie The Devil all the Time.. almost a.satire that taunts evangelical faith at every turn. Then there is the serial killer couple (Carl (Jason Clarke) and Sandy (Riley Kelough ) with the protagonist admitting he feels God only when he kills after an act of depravity is committed upon his wife..And then there is Rev. Preston (Robert Pattinson) perhaps the most exploitative of all in the name of faith. these are some of the key characters in this gripping.black drama that'll shake your faith from the roots and make you wonder what dark belief system the creators are actually trying to convey. Gripping, unpredictable, and disturbing

17.5/20

Electric

The Current War - we watched this in the relative intimacy and detail of one of the smaller (Insignia) screens in Imax Inorbit Malad. The small screen brought the brute rivalry of the genius Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and the equally determined Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) to focus... None gives the other a quarter in looking at lighting up America and eventually the world. It is AC vs DC, pitches and patronage of investors - the eponymous JP Morgan (Matthew Macfayden) - a narrative that resonates to this day more than most, the alliance with the genius Tesla (Nicholas Hoult). The movie begins with the memorable line "It is 1880 and the world is still lit by fire" - highlighting the sheer extent of the change brought about by the rivals. Perhaps it is great competition that brings out both the worst and the best in our nature

16/20

Fear the Water

In the Heart of the Sea had all the ingredients for an epic spectacle. Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) is listening to a first person account of the sinking of the Essex in 1820 (itself an adaptation from Nathaniel Philbrick's 1920 novel). Owen Chase (Chris Helmsworth), First Mate, has many ruboffs against Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) of the great Pollard seafaring family, but none can doubt the former's seafaring talent and navigational skills, in leading the crew of the Essex. Driven further and further into the Pacific in search of whaling grounds, the Essex finally meets in match in a feared sea-dweller - the legendary Moby Dick. So what doesnt work in all of this? The heroism does not click. The fearsomeness of the whale does not click. It seems that the sum total of the cinematography of Hollywood is no match for the evocative prose of Melville. Or maybe the cruel killing of whales just draws a different kind of empathy in our time

13/20