Those Who Wish Me Dead, Cruella and A Quiet Place Part 2

 

I had hoped that Those Who Wish Me Dead was going to be as good as Taylor Sheridan's previous screenplays Sicario and Hell or High Water. This time he also grabs the director's chair. In the end, while quite exciting, it was a pretty predictable set up and resolution. Predictable casting of one Irish and one British actor as the baddies (Aiden Gillen and Nicholas Hoult)  But Angelina Jolie is always good to watch. and the forest fire only puts in a limited appearance thank goodness. And what was written on that vital piece of paper? We will never know.

I'm not sure why Emma Thomson does not share top billing with Emma Stone. That's America for you, or just Disney? Well, she did share top billing with Tom Hanks in Saving Mr Banks. And Cruella would not have been the same without her bravura performance. Don't get me wrong, Emma Stone was just fine and her English accent was OK, it just made Emma Stone sound like someone else completely. It was if her voice had been dubbed. Unlike another American actor Paul Walter Hauser whose accent verged on the Dick Van Dyke. Although he was funny. OK, I agreed with many critics who said the film went on just too long, a case of multiple endings. Then of all the great locations, I liked the fountain supposed to be in Regent's Park, but actually in King William Court at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. The whole movie was very impressive.

I was totally gobsmacked by the amazing soundtrack. That I didn't expect. Thirty three pre-existing songs ranging from the well known (mostly) seventies recordings to the obscure. A David Bowie number that was new to me, same with one by The Animals, one I had not heard for years and years: Time of the Season by the Zombies. Then more familiar songs from such as  ELO and  The Clash. We even get an old Doris Day song and perhaps the strangest of all Love is like a Violin by Ken Dodd. My one and only reservation was that the brilliant idea of finishing with The Rolling Stones' Sympathy for the Devil was that the excerpt was too short. All to get in a new track Call Me Cruella by Florence and the Machine as soon as the credits rolled. So a big thank you to music supervisor Susan Jacobs.

There were some good set pieces in A Quiet Place Part 2 although it did seem like a re-hash of the successful original movie. Emily Blunt's part seemed to peter out in the last half leaving the story to follow Cillian Murphy and the two children. I wasn't thrilled with the constant switching between three different places in the last third, and the sudden ending. Fortunately it wasn't too scary with a good running time of only 90 minutes. But director John Krasinski should do better.