Film Review #125

Gladiator II (2024)
Director: Ridley Scott Starring: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi

Certificate: 15 Running Time: 148 Minutes

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking Gladiator is one of the best films ever made. Chances are, if you are reading this, you've seen it and have your own opinion and you probably think it's at least half decent. There has been word of a potential sequel since the original film was still showing on the big screen, and several possible story ideas were floated, but I never thought any of them sounded like they could possibly live up to the first. The idea seemed to get forgotten and it was probably for the best. BUT THEN!! After many years of silence it was not only back on but had been cast and was being filmed, with Ridley Scott in the driving seat once more! It seemed like years of silence, anyway, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention. In any case, it seems one of the first story ideas proposed 20+ years ago would form the premise behind this much-belated sequel. Unlike some, I don't mind these so-called 'legacy sequels' we've been getting in recent years but I was worried it would completely fail to live up to the original. Was I right? Probably not but let's find out.

NES Shmups #6

Over Horizon (1991)
By: Hot B Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo NES First Day Score: 322,860
Also Available For: Nothing

I used to greatly enjoy reading the multi-format games magazines back in the 80s and early 90s and getting a taste of what delights were available to lucky owners of systems I did not own. Sometimes it could be frustrating, admittedly, and other times it gave me ammo for mocking said owners, but now and then, seemingly unremarkable games from these pages would get stuck in my head forever. Many of them were NES examples since I never owned it in its day, nor knew anyone who did (it wasn't popular here in the UK for some reason), and one such game that has been making its presence well known in my brain lately is Over Horizon which I have oddly-specific memories of seeing in the mighty Mean Machines magazine. As I recall, it received only a mediocre reception from Jaz and the gang, but, as sacrilegious as this may sound, I've become aware increasingly in my advancing years of just how often their opinions did not necessarily correspond with mine. Let's see if this is another example of that!

Film vs Book #2

A Good Year (2004 - book, 2006 - film)

Book By: Peter Mayle Film Directed By: Ridley Scott Starring: Russell Crowe, Albert Finney, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hollander, Freddie Highmore, Abbie Cornish, Didier Bourdon, Isabelle Candelier, Archie Panjabi, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi

Certificate: PG Length: 118 Minutes / 245 pages

Tagline: "Everything matures... eventually" (both film and book)

This might seem like a slightly strange choice for inclusion in this feature, especially so early, but the film has long been one of my favourites despite getting a bit of a critical roasting, and it actually has comparable beginnings to Contact, the first film/book in this series of posts. The story is set in Provence in southeastern France where director Ridley Scott owns a property and had long wanted to make a film. He turned to author Peter Mayle, an acquaintance who had written several books set in the region, but Mayle didn't want to write the screenplay for Scott. He did, however, think Scott's ideas had the makings of a good book, so they agreed that he would write the book and Scott would secure the film rights and produce an adaptation henceforth. I'm not sure how successful the book was but sadly the film didn't do especially well, even with some talented names in the cast list, and is now considered a box office bomb.