Fred Asquith On Film

This week on FoF we are reviewing Disclosure Day, the new blockbuster movie from Steven Spielberg about government extra-terrestrial cover ups. We discuss comparisons to his own movies Close Encounters and War of the Worlds (and…Crystal Skull), as well as Arrival from Denis Villeneuve. I go through what works, what doesn’t work, and whether Spielberg did enough Spielberging to make this worth a trip to the cinema.
This review is SPOILER FREE, meaning anything that is shown in the trailer is fair game.
We also find time to have a good impassioned rant about Scorsese joining forces with an AI company.

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TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Intro, No Spoilers etc
(01:13) My Stance on Spielberg (Recent Work, Sci-Fi)
(03:03) My Stance on Aliens
(04:25) My Review Anxieties
(07:16) The Review starts, Approach to Aliens vs Arrival & Close Encounters
(12:44) Failure to Explore Themes
(14:08) Road Movie, comparison to War of the Worlds
(15:26) Performances
(17:49) Spielberg knows what he’s doing
(20:36) General Story Logic
(22:07) General thoughts, anxieties and confusion
(23:55) Summary, Letterboxd Rating & FoF Disclaimer https://boxd.it/eIQZ4P
———
(25:42) Scorsese Joins AI Storyboarding Company
(37:05) NEXT WEEK!

Today on FoF we discuss 2 Dad movies of differing quality. In the case of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE I have not had a more baffling, disorientating cinema experience in quite some time, so we have a nice big giggle about that in my first EVER non-Review Movie Review.
Moving onto POWER BALLAD (via a little OBSESSION update) I talk about how it tapped into my new Dad perspective, made me realise Nick Jonas has talent and earnt my forgiveness for its frailties.
Both these reviews are SPOILER FREE, meaning anything that is shown in the trailer is fair game.

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TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Intro
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(00:23) MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Review (Spoiler-Free)
(00:57) I have no idea what is happening
(01:50) A message to He-Man fans
(02:42) How has this passed me by
(04:24) The whole premiere experience
(05:58) Movie started
(06:49) I can’t even dog on this movie
(07:27) I feel asleep
(08:40) I walked out
(10:30) Not giving it a Letterboxd rating https://boxd.it/eyqcmN
(11:18) What happened to Idris Elba’s American accent?
(11:50) The FoF Disclaimer
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(12:10) OBSESSION Box Office - we were there at the start
(14:15) Cinema Air Con Reviews
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(14:40) POWER BALLAD Review (Spoiler-Free)
(15:10) Synopsis
(15:59) Funny angry comedy and references
(16:30) Paul Rudd in his element
(17:09) It’s funny! And interesting!
(17:40) Rudd & Jonas chemistry & talent
(18:08) Great depiction of the Creative Process
(19:33) Lip Syncing was offputting
(19:56) Cheap visuals and scale
(21:09) But it works overall
(22:00) My First Dad Movie Experience
(23:14) This could be a Family Favourite
(24:16) Summary & Letterboxd Rating https://boxd.it/eyqmop
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(24:55) Next Week!

Today on FoF we enter the BACKROOMS, a new horror(?) movie directed by Kane Parsons off the back of a very successful YouTube mini-series of the same name. I review it's visual and tonal strengths, whilst discussing why I think it is lacking in the scares department. This review is SPOILER FREE, but in this case that means providing context on what you may already know from the general YouTube mini-series premise, as well as what is shown in the trailer (which isn't much).
I also find time to have a quick rant about how long the Bond casting is taking, before letting you in on a little secret about my new baby's Letterboxd account!!!!

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RATE & REVIEW! ("FoF IS ON THE UP")
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TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Intro
(00:59) Origin / Context about Backrooms (Important)
(03:33) Synopsis & Set Up
(04:21) The Therapisation of Horror
(05:28) Strong foundational premise
(06:24) Strong visuals & initial tone
(07:50) Not scary enough
(09:35) Found footage sequences
(10:30) Over explanation diluting the horror
(12:25) The evil presence was not revealed effectively
(14:11) Something’s been lost from the original image/series
(18:10) Visual strengths
(18:52) The performances are strong
(19:43) Which audience will this work for?
(20:23) Summary & Letterboxd Rating https://boxd.it/ewY8Qz
(21:07) The FoF Disclaimer
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(21:21) Bond Casting RANT
(23:31) Mini Darling’s Letterboxd!!?
(26:28) Next week…

Today we return to a galaxy far, far away to review (SPOILER-FREE) The Mandalorian & Grogu, the new anxiously anticipated big screen spin-off of the previous Disney+ streaming spin-off. So we’re spinning off the spin-off. I walk you through my snap reaction to the film (because they have barely given us any time to gather our thoughts) before descending into an impassioned rant to Star Wars fanatics and casual fans alike. We talk about the marketing, the love (or lack thereof), the action, the warms, and the fuzzies.
Stick around to find out Mark Kermode’s favourite seat in the BFI IMAX, as well as the behaviour of the guy sat next to me.

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RATE & REVIEW! ("FoF IS ON THE UP")
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TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Intro
(00:41) My Star Wars Credentials
(02:00) Rob - our Star Wars fanatic correspondent
(02:52) Plot Synopsis/Set Up
(03:49) Marketing & Anticipation
(05:03) Is it a Cinematic Experience?
(07:42) Disney have messed us around with this IP
(12:15) This is strategy first not passion first
(13:00) Sigourney Weaver’s weird performance, and Pedro
(14:22) No Warm & Fuzzies, No Star Wars
(16:15) Picking out some positives
(18:13) Not coming from a place of love
(20:07) Star Wars fans deserve better than this.
(23:40) I take no joy in saying I was bored.
(25:36) Summary & Letterboxd rating https://boxd.it/eqqxsF
(26:30) The FoF Disclaimer
(26:40) A brief ranking of Mando & Grogu
(27:05) SeatyMapper - Mark Kermodes Favourite BFI IMAX Seat
(28:03) Forrest Grump - Mando & Grogu Cinema etiquette RANT
(30:08) Next week!

This week on FoF we indulge in 2 types of movies Hollywood does not make anymore…except they just did! Finding Emily (which is a British Rom Com tbf and not Hollywood), and Tuner (a cool Crime-Caper) both pleased me on different levels and for different reasons which we will go into in full FoF depth, with laughs along the way.
We discuss the return of the Rom-Com and why being a "Sunday Afternoon" movie is no bad thing.
I finish with another RANT about people talking in cinemas ARRGHHHH

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RATE & REVIEW! ("FoF IS ON THE UP")
EXPLORE the FoF socials via my creepy website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://fredasquith.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TIMESTAMPS
(00:00 Intro
(01:00) Finding Emily Review (Out 22nd May) https://boxd.it/elLvJV
(18:26) Tuner Review (Limited Release 22nd May, Wide 29th May) https://boxd.it/el3oFJ
(27:38) Movie Etiquette Forrest Grump
(29:37) Mando & Grogu NEXT WEEK!