I Just Watched (Films)

[Hatredsheart]

I've never read to original story but it seems to change from telling to telling about what the monster can do. The version in Penny Dreadful tv is very good, I got the impression that Del Toro may have used it as a template.

The Penny Dreadful version is my favourite of all of them, Rory Kinnear was superb.

[Wrathbone]

F1
AKA Days of Thunder 2, in which Brad Pitt is both Cole Trickle and Harry Hogge rolled into one. It's predicatble but enjoyable - it could have benefitted from having a little more bite, though that was never on the cards as it's intended as an advert for the sport.

I found the commentary from Crofty and Brundle a bit unnatural and jarring at times, which isn't entirely their fault as the dialogue is written to explain certain rules and strategies to the audience. I'm not sure non-F1 fans need to understand things like DRS and tyre deg while watching the film, when they're probably just enjoying the on-track action. Still, a decent and somewhat authentic presentation of my favourite sport.

7/10

[Raid]

Yeah, I think 7/10 is a fair score for it. It's a perfectly adequate film that accomplishes what it sets out to do, and as a massive fan of the sport, I really appreciated how much effort went in to representing it properly. For those that don't know, the FIA gave them a huge amount of access to the real events; the fake Apex GP team really did have their own garage at Silverstone and I think Spa, and their fake car was on the real grid surrounded by the real competitors during the race buildup. It's just a shame it was such a trope-heavy story, and they had that Hollywood attitude of "most people won't realise this is wrong, let's not put too much effort in" when making silly edits like putting Mexico before Spa when they're trying to represent the real 2023? season. And the less said about the line "we need to build our car for combat" the better. There are just so many things wrong with it.

I will say that I'm still in two minds about them using the crash footage from Martin Donnelly's 1990 accident as the basis of the backstory for Sonny's character. The real accident was so severe that Donnelly was given the last rites before eventually pulling through. Granted, Donnelly was involved in the discussions about using it, so it's hardly been entirely co-opted, but using footage of a real-life horrific accident as a story beat for a fictional character rubs me slightly up the wrong way.

Still, I think I'd be happy if they did a sequel. I'd watch more of it if it keeps or improves upon that level of access to the real sport.

[Wrathbone]

And the less said about the line "we need to build our car for combat" the better. There are just so many things wrong with it.

Oh god, the scene where he goes for a pint with the technical director to insist that they need to find a way for the car to handle dirty air better was painful, delivered as though his racing genius had given him an insight that nobody had ever considered. He may as well have asked her if she'd considered trimming some weight off the car.

[Raid]

And the less said about the line "we need to build our car for combat" the better. There are just so many things wrong with it.

Oh god, the scene where he goes for a pint with the technical director to insist that they need to find a way for the car to handle dirty air better was painful, delivered as though his racing genius had given him an insight that nobody had ever considered. He may as well have asked her if she'd considered trimming some weight off the car.

Exactly. I'm surprised he didn't say "We're carrying around this big battery that makes my steering wheel light up, maybe we could use some of that power to make the car faster" in the same conversation. I get that it sounds good to non-fans, but F1 is as interesting as it is because some of the very best engineers in the world are working flat out to make tiny fractions of a second's difference to the car's lap times. In reality, she probably would have thrown her pint over him, said something along the lines of "Perhaps you could hold onto the steering wheel better if you weren't soaking wet" and stormed out.