Pete's Pad: November

A slightly shorter post this month, as I’m back in gainful employment (if you just love newsletters, then sign up for another, boosting my chances of a raise) and busy writing for - and about - money again.

I did manage to sneak in another weekday movie during those three glorious weeks of unemployment, taking myself off to the early showing of The Running Man. I've enjoyed pretty much everything Edgar Wright has directed, and this is no exception. His first remake is a bold choice, with many just about remembering a pretty cheesy piece of late eighties Arnie action, not realising that the story comes from a pretty bleak Stephen King story; which it appears this latest incarnation sticks to a bit more closely. That’s not to say this is a dark and dull modern take - no - this is maybe Wright’s crashiest, bashiest film yet, full of chases (obviously), fights, shootouts and pithy one-liners. It does a decent job of balancing between biting satire of American capitalism gone wild, and not taking things too seriously to maintain momentum. In that way, Glen Powell is an ideal leading man, capable of some pathos when required, but never far from a knowing smirk or exasperated look to the heavens. Memorably cerebral this is not, two hours of escapist entertainment it most definitely is. Also, it’s always amusing when Glasgow is used as a bleak, dystopian cityscape. 

Back to the sofa for Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein. Again, the source material is compelling and I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve seen from the auteur, so I was quite looking forward to this gothic masterpiece. And broadly it does not disappoint, weaving the dramatic story with just the right amount of embellishment and directorial license. Money has clearly been spent on lavish set design, gory special effects and big set pieces - making the most of Edinburgh’s finest period architecture - while Oscar Isaac is well cast as Victor, throwing himself into the prodigious arrogance and moral ambiguity of the character. Jacob Elordi is unrecognisable as the monster, but all the better for it, as he tells his side of the story with subtlety that the rest of the film lacks at times. Indeed, the final act gets rather overwrought for my tastes - reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast - but overall it seems like a worthwhile endeavour.

Whether or not it was a worthwhile endeavour to make seven Mission Impossible movies is, by this point, a moot point. I quite liked the first half of the final film (when did this trend of splitting finales start and who can I direct my anger at?) so when I saw the second half on Sky Cinema for two quid, I made it my one Black Friday blowout. The first 10 minutes is, in millennial parlance, A LOT. It’s all nostalgic montages and epilepsy-inducing jump cuts before the titles, and the frenetic feel doesn’t really let up from there. While wholly unoriginal, the apocalyptic AI plot works fine, albeit without much room for nuance or critical musings on the reality of the potentially deadly technology. It’s just a solid narrative excuse for plenty of Tom’s small man, high hands super running and that jaw-clenching concerned face he pulls when hoodwinked by a baddie. It all gets a little po-faced towards the end, but the leading man probably deserves that honorary Oscar, if only because he won’t be eligible for the debut stuntwork category next year. Here’s hoping the end of this franchise means he can accept some weirder roles in the future, as despite all his Scientology weirdness, I still find him a really charismatic screen presence - wielded well in things like Magnolia or Collateral.

Also on the telly in the last few weeks was Mickey 17, the latest in the continued evolution of Robert Pattinson - via ever more interesting roles - alongside a bold move away from the Oscar-winning formula of Parasite’s Bong Joon Ho. This is a future where they’ve figured out how to reprint humans, but the ethical, moral and legal issues mean the superbly-douchey Mark Ruffalo failed politician has only been able to get away with doing it to help with the tasks that an ‘expendable’ crew member can aid a mission to a new planet with. Mickey, then, is up to his 17th form when an inhabitant creature saves him, rather than eating him. With another version created, drama ensues alongside 18, as the ‘multiples’ vie for survival, as well as defending the peaceful alien race. It’s got hints of Terry Gilliam in the freewheeling plot and sense of humour, which seem to have made it hard to pigeon-hole for some reviewers. But don’t take it too seriously and you’ll have a really good time; just like RPats seems to be doing. 

I took a similar approach with the latest Marvel movie, Fantastic Four: First Steps. Low expectations were pleasingly exceeded as a result, as a solid cast work with a good script and lots of easter-egg-y detail in the retro-futurist aesthetic. The whole multiverse saga the MCU is going through means IP like the Fantastic Four and X-Men can be weaved in via the handy story-telling crutch of parallel universes colliding. In this version of reality everything’s got a 1960s feel, with the plot pitched somewhere between a sitcom and sci-fi from that time. While inevitably there’s a fair bit of superhero fight, shoot, crash, bang business, the best bits always seem to concern the interplay between this unconventional family - particularly the intensely relatable final scene where the three blokes are struggling to install a baby seat in their car.

From films to TV, and yes, I too am watching the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. My feeling after the first couple is that maybe this was one outing too far for the Duffers. The last few have been stretching credulity with thematic gimmicks and new settings - really squeezing every ounce of nostalgia out of the franchise - but this time round they don’t even seem to be trying. I have, in the past, really liked this show, so far it just seems like the same goodies, same baddies, same up, same down, same tensions, fears, improvised solutions and plot progression. The only major change appears to be how obvious it is that the actors are no longer anywhere near their teens.

OK, review update: bit of a game of two halves here, as the second two episodes available (the last few are on over Christmas and New Year) are significantly better. There was a Kevin McCallister-esque trap-rigged home sequence and the evolution of Will from the wettest of the wet, to an almost hunky, power-wielding gay icon, which were both excellent. More of the same and they might just stick the landing.

A brief par to say, I still don’t like Tim Robinson. People with whom I share a lot of telly taste seem to find him very funny, so much like I gave I Think You Should Leave a try, I also watched the first episode of his new thing, The Chair Company, and while there was some promise to the premise, his overacting just doesn’t do it for me. I just don’t get it.

I also don’t get AppleTV, so I haven’t been able to watch Pluribus, as much as I’d like to. As seems to be something of a theme this month, I’d watch anything Vince Gilligan is involved in, but there’s just not enough other stuff on there to make the subscription worthwhile. Do tell me if I’m missing something great.

On to the documentaries, and one I missed from last month called Meet You at the Hippos. This follows Mark Bonnar, a fine and funny actor, as he tries his hand at presenting factual programming. He’s taken on the subject of the public art commissioned to enliven Scotland’s new towns like East Kilbride, Livingston and Cumbernauld - because his father was one of those artists tasked with creating said sculptures. Stan Bonnar built the titular concrete hippos in Glenrothes, which are among the more cuddly works, while some of the others he tours are a lot more abstract and divisive. But I’m generally all for public art, and find the 1960s approach quite inspiring, given that in recent years, austerity-hit councils have been selling off such things. The fact that these pieces are readily accessible - they can be clambered on and appreciated by locals everyday - is really important. Mark does a fine job of taking the piss out of art and history documentaries along the way, with some odd little flourishes making what is a very niche subject into something very watchable. The various ‘town artists’ are mostly pleasingly-practical men, who had to work with minimal budgets, overspill materials from construction and relationships built with the engineers and contractors. Inspiring stuff.

If you’ve been reading throughout the year, you’ll have realised I am a big fan of the Storyville strand, where someone in the Big British Castle picks up weird and wonderful docs from around the world. This month we were treated to Mr Nobody Against Putin, which gave a glimpse behind the new iron curtain, this time via footage shot by an infamously polluted copper mining town’s school events organiser and videographer. He’s a likeable chap, growing in anger and bravery as Putin’s war against Ukraine begins and gradually intensifies. This plays out as educational diktats, patriotic indoctrination exercises and recent graduates being enlisted. Good on him for bringing this story to the outside world and shame on Vladimir for putting his people through such hard times.

It pairs well with another Storyville called The Sanatorium, which is set in a fading health resort in Odessa. In line with the setting, this is a much more relaxed affair by comparison, all lingering shots of the eastern bloc interior decor and lumpy pensioners in their pants taking in the healing mud flats. But the war is ever present, in air raid sirens, decimated guest numbers and talk of the good old days. The range of treatments on offer, often using fantastically quack-y looking old equipment, is truly impressive, and all done at the behest of presumably-qualified doctors, whose assessments we are privy to. All the characters are a joy to watch and hear from, but some shine even brighter than others, including the paunchy janitor, forever berating his poor subordinate Igor, and the elderly mother, taking her middle-aged, wife-less son for a holiday fix up. 

I’m going to finish with a few ski movies. There was a time when I wrote a round-up blog of all the year’s hottest free-ski films when they come out in the late summer, after their makers have spliced together all the previous winter’s footage during the spring. I still enjoy watching them as much as I enjoy participating in the sport myself, but given opportunities to do so are less evident these days, I try not to get too excited via the medium of ski porn as we go into another winter without pow.

I will make an exception for three things that have crossed my path in the last month.

Firstly, a pal’o’mine, who shares a love of Cody Townsend’s recent video series about trying to ski The Fifty gnarliest ski touring routes in North America, sent me a YouTube film from a Norwegian skier who’s trying to emulate some of that action. Nikolai Shirmer is remarkably candid about setting out to be a pro, moving to Canada and filming himself for increasingly risky one-man missions into the mountains, admitting to a workaholic nature that hides bouts of depression. This is in contrast to his old friend, who was also on the same route to getting sponsored and skiing segments, but instead gave up on their shared dream to live in a cave and train for the ‘greatest ski tour of all time’, traversing 27 peaks in one go. I won’t give too much more away, but what I really liked about this film was how honest they are about the perils of the industry and of big mountain ski touring.

Which is something that often gets lost in the gloss and glory of traditional ski movies, like those made by the big production houses MSP and Warren Miller. Again, I’ve written before about the fact that once you’ve seen a few of their films, you’ve kind of seen them all. Sure, there’s progression from year to year - the airs get bigger, the rotation numbers get sillier and there are fresh groms taking bigger risks in the backcountry - but after a while the Alaskan spine-lines and goggle-deep Jap-pow kind of merges into one. I used to go to The Dominion Cinema in Morningside to watch the latest Warren Miller and maybe win some ski kit from the hype-man, but haven’t been along to one in decades, as my own hype died down. However, I did see a clip from the latest one where they’re skiing some sketchy gully in the Highlands and hitting the plastic kicker at Hillend, which is far more engaging, mostly because it feels far more doable.

Finally, I mention Matchstick Productions because, for a change, they’ve stuck this year’s video up for free on the Red Bull website. If you’re new to this genre, then it’s a good representation, and despite all I’ve just said, very impressive. 

Alright, that’ll do it for November. Next month is the annual list-fest, so expect a full run-down of my favourite sound and vision from 2025, across two posts. Don’t say I don’t treat you.