rec160

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Rec160 — Thunderbolts*

FILM

Title: Thunderbolts*

Director: Jack Schreier

Starring: Florence Pugh, Lewis Pullman

It was the combination of Florence Pugh’s performance as Yelena in Black Widow along with this article on ABC that swayed the decision to invest in another Marvel outing. Fortunately, the promise was delivered, in a thoroughly enjoyable addition to the superhero line-up. Yelena is the axis around which her fellow misfit heroes and mercenaries revolve as they are caught up in a plot to fill the overt gap left by the Avengers, with, of course, the generous serve of self-interest. While New York City again lives under a cloud as things go very wrong, the movie manages to keep the stakes at a personal level, forging loners into a team, and managing to strike that ideal balance of drama and humour along the way. While Yelena is the epitome of a dour, pessimistic Russian, her father (aka Red Guardian) sees a chance for resurgence. It was so good to see Hannah John-Kamen (Killjoys) back in action, too. I’d line up for another Thunderbirds.

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Rec160 — Sinners

FILM

Title: Sinners, 2025

Director: Ryan Coogler

Stars: Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton

There’s an air of From Dusk Till Dawn to this Southern-drenched period piece that strikes me as one of the best battles of the bands ever – everyone is getting down to the blues in a 1930s juke joint, but then the vampires arrive and the jig is up. Jordan plays twin brothers who return to their home town after having schooled up as soldiers and criminals. They’re trying to pick up where they left off as a gang of two, encountering the friends and lovers left behind as they muster musicians, including a talented guitarist (Caton), and helpers for the opening of their club. Has anyone tallied the number of tracking shots, and how long they go for? They certainly add to the feeling of immediacy. The acting, the sets, the cinematography – there are fabulous transitional edits between scenes – and, yes, the music, whether Buddy Guy’s guest spot or a touch of Riverdance, makes for an immersive experience worth revisiting.

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Rec160: Presence

Film

Title: Presence

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Stars: Callina Liang, Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Eddy Maday

This haunted house film is fabulous until it gets tripped up by its final reveal, but it’s worth a watch. The point of view is that of an entity inhabiting the unremarkable suburban home, with a penchant for a particular wardrobe. I was quite happy not knowing the entity’s identity and story, and enjoyed the constraint of having pieces of story provided only by what it can hear or see from its vantage points within the home. A family moves in and the dynamics are built through vignettes: tiger mum has a business secret as well as devotion to her son’s swimming career, dad isn’t coping, daughter is suffering from the death of her best friend from an apparent drug overdose (one of two). But at the end, the time paradox referenced by a medium undermines the simple elegance of the set-up, and narrative coherence – already a little frayed by the side plot of dead students – unspools. That wardrobe? Ew.

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Rec160 – Mayatrix and The Psychics

Band: Mayatrix and the Psychics

One of the best things to come out of seeing Roger Waters performing The Wall was discovering Lucius, whose harmonising singers were performing with him. Similarly, The Cult has put its support act, WA’s Mayatrix and The Psychics (previously known as Moana), on the radar. Margaret Court Arena wasn’t doing either band any sonic favours when I saw them – Ian Astbury lamented the energy suck of the stadium and appeared to remove his ear pieces for the encore – but even so, the Psychics pushed out a delightful bass thump with their infectious gumbo of rock, psychedelia and more. Singer and guitarist Moana has voice and presence to burn, and burn them she does. They’ve been around for at least a decade – their In the Allure album is marking a five-year anniversary during their tour with The Cult (how good is Dracula?) – and they’ve been releasing new material since (wrap your ears around the latest, this year’s Black Moon Medicine). Rock on!

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rec160: Blink Twice

Film: Blink Twice

Director: Zoë Kravitz

Starring: Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum,

Year of release: 2024

Comparisons (e.g. Rolling Stone and Esquire) between this, the debut for director Zoë Kravitz, with the work of Jordan Peele (in particular Get Out) is not unwarranted. Here’s an apparent idyll that of course has a dark secret, and the reveal is beautifully balanced as clues and tension mount after a leisurely set-up. Horror ensues amid the social critique, Naomi Ackie’s Frida bearing the brunt amid a cast of questionable dudes and a delightful sisterhood. There is a certain, triumphant inevitability to events once the trigger is pulled, even though the survivor ratio is always in question and the denouement offers a masterful twist. Channing Tatum heads the good-time bros partying hard on their private island, his portrayal totally convincing of a tech tycoon on the comeback trail from an unknown but intimated scandal. Money talks and money walks in this premise, a superb addition to the ouvre in which exploitation in the Me Too era receives its just desserts.

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rec160: A Quiet Place – Day One

Film: A Quiet Place – Day One

Director: Michael Sarnoski

Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff

Release: 2024

When this movie emerged, I wondered what it could add to the first two (sensational) instalments. We’d seen how the aliens arrived and – spoiler – how they could be fought. So what did Day One have to offer? Turns out, plenty. Albeit, probably any apocalyptic monster or zombie could’ve done the job of setting up this entirely enthralling survival story. It rang a similar bell to the fabulous Aussie flick These Final Hours, where values such as family and friendship are put under an intense lens as the curtain comes down in inevitable fashion. Adding to the emotional pull is a cat that has a habit of being in the right, or wrong, place at the right time. There’s a touchstone to the previous movies that rewards familiarity but doesn’t confuse, Day One a masterclass in how to tap a franchise without cannibalising it or fracturing the narrative. If only Alien: Romulus had been able to show such a deft touch.

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rec160: The Underhistory, by Kaaron Warren

NOVEL

Title: The Underhistory

Author: Kaaron Warren

Publisher: Allen&Unwin, 2024

Pera lives alone in a rural mansion, one she has rebuilt on the wreckage of her childhood home. She is the only survivor of a tragedy that claimed the lives of her immediate family, the visiting prime minister and others besides. On this day, she is running a ghost tour, only to have interlopers impose themselves. The 60-odd-year-old must deal with the threat they pose to her paying guests, the home and herself – Pera is not one to yield easily. The tour is a clever wav to lead the reader through the eclectic rooms of the house and its grounds, each revealing elements of Pera’s life and personality. The delicious claustrophobia is perhaps undermined as the intruders’ malevolence is revealed in a few breakout sections, but these also flag the key plot and looming danger – I am conflicted! Warren is a leading light in dark fiction – this may well be the book that introduces her to a deservedly wider audience.

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rec160: Blue Eye Samurai

TV SHOW

Title: Blue Eye Samurai

Creators: Michael Green, Amber Noizumi

Cast (voice): Maya Erskine, Darren Barnet, George Takei

Year of release: 2023

What a sumptuous work of animation this is! Cinematic sets and effective action sequences set off a narrative that does not follow the typical path. When we meet Mizu (voiced by Erskine, recently seen in the flesh in the most engaging Mr and Mrs Smith), apparently a young swordsman out to revenge his slain mother, it feels the series will be following a well-blazed path just waiting for Clint Eastwood (or any other action hero who looks good in a poncho or, in this case, kimono) to ride into town. Mizu, of the striking blue eyes, has secrets that aren’t that surprising, further lulling the viewer into false expectations. Love interest, mentor, handsome villain, comedic sidekick all appear, made eminently watchable due to touches of humour and adept narrative control. But then come the plot swerves as Mizu finds himself embroiled in a story much larger than his simple desire to even a score. Sign me up for season 2!

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rec160: The Tin Roof Blowdown, by James Lee Burke

NOVEL

Title: The Tin Roof Blowdown

Author: James Lee Burke

Publisher: Orion, 2007

I’ve been hunting the Dave Robicheux crime series in second-hand book shops ever since I received a copy of Creole Belle. It blew my socks off: starting directly after the preceding book, the details were seamlessly inserted to allow me to follow the yarn and enjoy the adept characterisation and descriptions of Louisiana. The history and social layers of the state infuse the series. This title, a recent find set in New Orleans during and immediately after Katrina and then Rita, is one of the best so far. The storms’ devastation, a shooting of looters who picked the wrong house, and Robicheaux’s family under threat: it’s a compelling mix deftly balanced. Robicheux, a Vietnam veteran clinging to sobriety, remarks after a nightmare that he thought he would ‘never again have to witness the wide-scale suffering of innocent civilians, nor the betrayal and abandonment of our countrymen when they need us most. But that was before Katrina’. Still gives me goosebumps.

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rec160: Wicked Little Letters

MOVIE

Title: Wicked Little Letters

Director: Thea Sharrock

Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley

Release: 1923/24

I thoroughly enjoyed this light comedy, a beautifully crafted nod to an actual event in 1920s England in which poison pen letters raise a scandal. Colman plays devout spinster Edith, around whom the storm develops as she receives foul insults via post. Suspicion falls on neighbour Rose (Buckley), an Irish mum of one who is delightfully non-conformist. The pair have a great deal of fun working off each other, and are ably supported by a cast that includes Timothy Spall at his loathsome best and Anjana Vasan, a ‘woman police officer’ displaying consummate eye rolls as she forges ahead against sexism as she seeks to solve the case. Writer Johnny Sweet balances comedy, character and serious stakes as the case splits the town. The best part of seeing it at the cinema was the cackling of the women behind us as some of the choice curses were displayed as the credits rolled. ‘Foxy arse’ may be due for a revival…