More telly

Apart from watching films that are geared more towards young adults, children and families, I also love watching another type of film. The type of film where the body count usually is on the higher side of the spectrum. One of the good guys gets it good and then a lot of the bad guys go the same way (ie untimely death). And sometimes they can be quite funny as well. Like 'Spy'. Starring Melissa McCarthy and Jude Law with a brilliant comedic turn by Jason Statham. A desk-bound CIA analyst volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent diabolical global disaster. Very much a fish out of water story, I had seen parts of it before, but never the whole film. And even though it was very clearly a film, it was also quite believable as you rooted for Melissa McCarthy trying to do her best as a new spy.

Something with nearly the same title was 'My Spy', starring Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman. A hardened CIA operative finds himself at the mercy of a precocious 9-year-old girl, having been sent undercover to surveil her family. There were parts of this film that were so funny they had me nearly wetting myself as I laughed so hard. I thought the chemistry between the two main leads was very sweet and the supporting cast was brilliant.

'Safe' was another Jason Statham film (I really like him, he could read the phonebook and it would be good). Mei, a young girl whose memory holds a priceless numerical code, finds herself pursued by the Triads, the Russian mob, and corrupt NYC cops. Coming to her aid is an ex-cage fighter whose life was destroyed by the gangsters on Mei's trail. I fell into this halfway and once finished, I had to go back to the beginning to really get the whole story. There was definitely a higher body count here, as the Triads, Russian Mob and police force all were severely short of people in the end. And apart from some of the wise cracks, there was not much of comedy here. But, as I said, it had Jason Statham in...

I saw a few films recently starring Sam Worthington. 'Clash of the Titans', 'Wrath of the Titans' and 'The Hunter's Prayer'. In the first two he stars as Perseus, a Greek demi-god (Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes also star), in the last he is an assassin who helps a young woman avenge the death of her family. Very much in the same vein as the film with Jason Statham and still quite entertaining, the good guy and the bad guy looked very similar to me and were hard to keep apart until quite far into the film. Which did definitely not help. It was still a nice watch though.

A Mark Wahlberg film next. When I saw this film advertised, I watched it because I thought it had Matt Damon in (there was a tiny picture next to it). A man discovers that his hallucinations are actually visions from past lives. I did really feel for the protagonist and very much rooted for him and his friends. However, I did not get much from Chiwetel Ejiofor. He played the bad guy, but he didn't do it for me. Yes, at times it was a bit far fetched, but with these type of films you have to suspend your disbelief to some extent I think. And as long as they are not billing it as 'based on a true story'...

'In Time' was a film I had seen several times before, but only ever the second half, never the beginning. So when I saw it streamed on one of the streaming services I subscribe to, I had to watch it again. In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth. Here, Will Salas finds himself accused of murder and on the run with a hostage - a connection that becomes an important part of the way against the system. I am not much into Justin Timberlake's music, but I do like his acting very much. 

To end with something altogether less violent now: 'The Hating Game'. Resolving to achieve professional success without compromising her ethics, Lucy embarks on a ruthless game of one-upmanship against cold and efficient nemesis Joshua, a rivalry that is complicated by her growing attraction to him. When I first saw this, I fast forwarded quite a bit, but once I had finished I went back to the beginning and saw the whole thing from beginning to end again. I especially liked Austin Stowell's acting and his looks were very much cold and ruthless. Until he smiled...