Whilst we're looking ahead, Cineworld are showing a couple of classics on April Fool's Day, which also happens to be Easter Monday, with screenings of Dumb and Dumber and The Naked Gun. That would make quite the double bill if you haven't got any plans! The visual gags in Naked Gun are class in a glass, and as well as starring the poker-faced Leslie Nielsen, it also boasts Priscilla Presley as his wife Jane. Eighties slapstick comedy at its finest.
This week, I watched Spaceman on Netflix, and rather enjoyed the strange Adam Sandler intergalactic adventure, which is based on the 2017 novel Spaceman of Bohemia. Sandler is Jakub, 189 days into a space mission to check out a strange cloud phenomenon, whilst back on Earth his wife Lenka is planning to leave him. A spider-like creature from the beginning of time climbs on board his spaceship, and befriends him. He names the creature Hanus, after the bloke who built the astonomical clock in Prague.
It's a space race between the Czech Republic and South Korea, and I really liked the quote in the film "everything is permanent, yet nothing ever is". It's a bit sluggish in places, but I enjoyed it,, with Carey Mulligan a little underused as Yakub's wife. I can imagine the book was probably ace. Worth a trip into space to watch this on your sofa.
Imaginary, a film about a possessed teddy bear named Chauncey, was so bad it almost knocked the stuffing out of me. It all looked like it had been filmed on a mobile phone, and as the jumpiest person ever, I barely moved watching this mess of a movie. The screenplay was disjointed, the story wafer thin, and the acting hammy. 104 minutes of my life I won't get back, but you can't win them all! It made M3gan look like a masterpiece.
A far better bet is the bawdy road-trip comedy Drive Away Dolls. Two friends decide to take a spontaneous drive to Tallahassee, and discover when one of the tyres on their hire car bursts that there is a mysterious silver case in the trunk of their vehicle. Its dodgy contents, intended to blackmail a senator (played by Matt Damon) provide much hilarity, as the runaway pair are pursued for the items across several states by a pair who reminded me of the two crooks in Home Alone.
It's not perfect, but there are genuine belly laughs to be had, and the running time zipped by. Described by the Radio Times as "80 minutes of riotous fun", and I can't better that description.
