Dan Says its Alright

 Oppenheimer posed a tricky question for perennial hit maker Christopher Nolan. How do you make a three hour biopic of a scientist compelling enough to bring in big money? Turns out the answer is to not make a biopic at all. While J. Robert Oppenheimer is indeed the focus of the film it eschews any traditional biopic format, instead serving up what is essentially a heist or even sports movie wrapped up in a courtroom drama. This allows the director to indulge his favourite hobby of playing with time, as the story jumps between two different panel hearings  while also covering Oppenheimer's early career and of course the work of the Manhattan Project. This approach works incredibly well with the three hour runtime flying by. In fact, if you go to see this in the cinema you might want to skip the large cola as there really isn't any time when little enough is happening to sneak in a toilet brake.  Technically the film is outstanding. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, follo...

  Before you watch Meg 2 : The Trench you need to ask yourself one question, do I like giant sharks tearing stuff up? If the answer is yes then this might not be the film for you. The first Meg film was something of a sleeper hit, suggesting people quite like watching giant sharks. The marketing for this film suggests the studio know people quite like giant sharks but they don't seem to have passed that information along to the people actually making the film since, after a brief introduction, the megs (and the cool giant octopus from the trailer) are mostly relagated to final part of the movie. Instead what you get is a series of bland, human focused, action set pieces. There's some dimly lit plodding through the titular trench, like a less good version of 2020 's Underwater. Then there's some guys with guns running around a research station like a really crap Die Hard. Even the creature focused final act focuses as much on some dog sized land lizards (evolution has ...

 There is no doubt Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : Mutant Mahem owes something of a debt (visually at least) to "Into the Spider-Verse" but direct comparisons are a little unfair. While the story of Miles Morales and Co was a spectacular combination of art techniques this turtle adventure has its own singular visual vision, a beautiful hand drawn style that gives a stop motion feel and gives the impression of a moving sketchbook. A banging hip hop soundtrack completes the sense of style. The story focuses on the Turtles attempts to be be accepted by society so they can live normal teenage lives. They surmise that the best way to do this is to stop the crime spree being led by mysterious villain Superfly. It's  a standard story that works well due to strong characters. The Turtles themselves feel distinct in a way they don't in some other incarnations and they actually come across as teenagers rather than frat bros, Jackie Chan brings sympathy to overprotective father S...