The Last 10 Movies – July 2026 edition.
Well, this is another SUPER long pause between movie watching. A part of that is that I'm re-watching Babylon 5 (series 1) between films and that (as I tend to watch movies late at night when I'm starting to tire) it can take 3-4 sessions to watch a single film. Oddly I can watch a 2-hour podcast in a single sitting which must mean something.... Anyway, the last 10 movies I watched were... [NEW movies – to me! - are in BOLD.]
The Bridge at Remagen (1969)
Classic 60's WW2 war film with a Vietnam 'vibe' as US troops are tasked to capture or destroy the last bridge over the Rhein. Interestingly both sides are shown sympathetically and both sides have fanatics.
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (2010)
I've been hearing about this movie for years and finally got the chance to see it. I can see why it's become such a cult classic, and I did enjoy it (mostly) but I'm still in 2+ minds on whether or not it was any good.
The Vikings (1958)
One of my all-time favourite movies growing up as Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis fight over a beautiful English woman during an invasion of England. The end fight and castle attack is especially good.
Sink the Bismarck (1960)
Totally classic British war movie that did exactly what it says on the tin. After reading more about the actual events I was even more impressed by its accuracy. Pretty good model work too (for its time).
Upgrade (2018)
Very silly Sci-Fi Cyberpunk horror/thriller about a paraplegic with an AI chip seeking revenge for the 'accident' that put him in a wheelchair and killed his wife. Had some moments, but few and far between.
American Ultra (2015)
Jesse Eisenberg is a failed CIA experiment who believes he's just a stoner working in a 7/11 until his masters decide to tie up loose ends – including him and his girlfriend. MUCH silly violence ensues. Silly, but mostly fun.
Ice Station Zebra (1968)
One of the better Alistair Maclean adaptations where a team of Americans (and some foreign spies) travel to the North Pole to recover a Soviet spy satellite. Most of the film takes place on a nuclear submarine and is very tense. Some great scenes and pretty good acting. I think its aged quite well.
Zulu (1964)
One of my all-time favourite movies. LOVE it to bits. Rather inaccurate (but not completely fanciful) account of the action at Roakes Drift in 1879 where around 150 British soldiers faced over 4,000 Zulu warriors. Tense and dramatic stuff and starring Micael Caine in his first major role.
Nobody (2021)
Yet another silly violent film when an ex-CIA type 'operator' who just wants a quiet life gets involved with the Russian mafia and has to 'take care of business' the only way he knows how: with LOTS of bangs, LOTS of guns and LOTS of blood including his own.
Project Hail Mary (2026)
Yet another adaptation of an Andy Weir SF novel. After enjoying The Martian so much I was really looking forward to this. That's probably one reason why I was a little disappointed by it. It's a LONG movie which honestly felt a bit flat. I also felt that the humour sprinkled throughout too often seemed out of place as if they (author or director) didn't really know just how serious they wanted to be. My favourite bits were any scene that involved Sandra Hüller who played the East German lead scientist. I thought she was brilliant.
Hopefully my NEXT 10 movies list will arrive before Christmas. [crosses fingers]
11 comments:
I haven't watched a single of the films but I am in the middle of reading The Project Hail Mary. I bought it a while ago and didn't get to it, yet. I talked with my son about The Martian and then gave it to him. He now said he would like PHM for his birthday. I said, don't bother, I have it, will just have to read it first. I will have finished by the time he comes visiting us in August.
It is a good book - so far. I like how he explains scientific stuff so that even I can understand it but doesn't get too much into detail.
Sandra Hüller, I saw her in The Zone of Interest. She was brillant. Did you watch that?
Haven't read 'Hail Mary' yet, but enjoyed 'The Martian' very much - both film & book.
I think this is the first I've seen/heard of Sandra Hüller. I'll definitely be looking out for more of her films!
Haven't seen PHM yet....The Martian was a great adaptation but PHM has been so hyped I don't think it can live up to it.
Scott Pilgrim was very nearly entirely shot in my neighbourhood. There was a day when artificial snow was covering the major intersection nearest my house by that Pizza Pizza. I only subsequently realized they'd been filming Scott Pilgrim.
As a consequence I'm completely unable to judge the movie--but I did enjoy it.
PHM dropped on Amazon Prime a week or so ago so it seemed like a good time to watch it. It had a fair bit in common with 'The Martian' (as you might expect) but didn't 'work' as well (for me!) this time.
That's SO cool! I've known of several places near here where they've filmed historical drama for TV or movies (throw a stick around here and you'll hit a historical monument) but I've never seen one actually being filmed.
It was certainly an interesting film. Cool visuals and I liked all of the gaming/pop culture references.
Another ten movies I have never seen!
I like old war films and Sci-Fi so we're probably not going to have a lot of cross-overs!
You definitely should watch The Zone of Interest. They won two Oscars (Best International Feature Film and Best Sound) which doesn't happen often with German films.
I loved Project Hail Mary the book but was not impressed by the movie adaptation. I thought Ryan Gosling did a fair enough job acting, but the script was lacking.
I'm planning on reading the book (when I have no idea) so will do a compare and contrast. I did feel that the movie - enjoyable enough - was missing 'something' though.
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