Alex's Weekly Film Blog - 31st October

With it being Halloween week, it's worth mentioning that horror has had a rather lucrative year at the cinema, with movies such as The Substance, Terrifier 3 and Smile 2 all delighting audiences and smashing their budgets at the box office.

I've only just got over the graphic gore of Terrifier 3, and Art the clown is certainly a character I'm hoping not to see at my door this spooky season.

I was really shocked last weekend at how quiet the cinema was for Venom: The Last Dance. I guess it was the beginning of the half term holidays, and a lot of people had other stuff going on, but I was one of six in a 300 seater screen. Anyway, Tom Hardy didn't disappoint in his third outing as journalist Eddie Brock. Whilst I've become a little Marvel-weary in recent times, I still think this franchise is terrific fun, and audiences seem to rate it far more highly than the critics, judging by the Rotten Tomatoes scores (37% versus 80% at the time of writing).

I loved the montage set to Maroon 5's Memories, the scene where Venom had a boogie to Abba's Dancing Queen, and the David Bowie car singalong with the alien-seeking family who got more than they bargained for on a road trip to see Area 51 (Rhys Ifans is a highlight as the geeky dad). The plot is not particularly complicated, but in short Venom is being hunted by a monstrous lizard-like creature that has found its way through a portal from another world.

At times, it's a little bit like watching a computer game, but there are plenty of wisecracks between Hardy and his symbiote Venom to keep us smiling, and if you're just after a fun film where you can reboot your brain for an hour and a half, this is perfect.

If you haven't watched The Wild Robot yet, you really should. Described in one review as "like watching ET, Finding Nemo and Bambi, as drawn by Claude Monet". It really is stunningly animated, and such a lovely story of kindness, but not done in a remotely mawkish or saccharine sweet way.

And my only other film to mention this week is Sasquatch Sunset, which is possibly the worst movie I've sat through in 2024. It received a number of positive reviews when released earlier in the year, but this dialogue-free tale of several hairy creatures trying to survive in the forest just left me scratching my head at how it ever got made. Perhaps I've missed the point, but honestly I think I'd have had more fun counting the blades of grass in my back garden.

Next week, I'll be checking out Heretic and Juror Number 2, the latter being the new Clint Eastwood film. At 94, you have to wonder if it might be his last. I'm also rather excited about Red One, a film that sees The Rock try to save Christmas. I'll be seeing that on opening day on 6th November.