Reviews

What a lovely film, so much emotion and very well told. The acting throughout was superb, but how they got the dog's to act so well I will never know.

Based on the true story of Hachiko a Japanese Akita dog who has gone down in history and remembered for his remarkable loyalty to his owner, Hidesaburo Ueno, for whom he continued to wait for over nine years following his owners death.

Hachiko would meet his owner at Shibuya Station every day after his commute home. Then on May 21, 1925, when his owner died of a cerebral hemorrhage while at work and from then until his death on March 8, 1935, Hachiko would return to Shibuya Station every day to await Ueno's return.

This movie captures the spirit of this story, but is set in the U. S. A. Richard Gere does a great acting job here and for a change this movie is family friendly with no bad language etc.

I love Raiders of the Lost Ark from 1981, I like the second movie Temple of Doom from 1984, the fourth movie Kingdom of the Crystal Skull from 2008 was awful, but this movie Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is even worse.

The opening part of the movie is the best with a digitally de-aged Harrison Ford although his voice sounds older. I thought this was going to be a good movie, but after the initial scene it all went downhill. Director James Mangold seemed all over the place and nothing like the skillful way that the original movies were directed by Steven Spielberg.

Harrison Ford is still great as Indiana Jones but in this story, he is retiring from his job, and he has become like a bitter old man, he is even dull when teaching archeology.

This movie is more about the annoying Helena, played by the equally annoying Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She is unlikable, a thief, and happy to leave her godfather to die at the hands of the villains.

The story is so full of flaws it is laughable at times. Indy is wanted for a murder he didn't commit, yet he is dropped off at the airport by old friend Sallah, played by the brilliant John Rhys-Davies, who shouts out go get em Indiana Jones, yet there is no one at the airport, no police, n security and he sails through and boards a plane for Tunisia. Also exactly how Sallah knows that Helena has gone to Tunisia to sell the Dial is not explained, probably because you can't.

Also when Indy and team take a boat and leave the villains in a non working boat, the villains somehow know where Indy has gone and arrive soon after he does in Sicily????

There are the usual modern nods to the PC fans, like having Shaunette Renée Wilson playing a black head of a C. I. A team in 1960s American?? Antonio Banderas Plays a small part barely worth his turning up for.

The ending is just silly, time travel and Indy acting so un-indy like it is ridiculous and the final with his being reunited with Marion, played again by Karen Allen is pointless and overly soppy.

I could say more but watch this yourself and see if you like it, I didn't.

There are so many great moments in this celebration that I had to give it 10 even though there were some negatives.

Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, Junior Walker were all superb, singing and performing some of their timeless music.

Stevie Wonder performed a great medley of some of his many hit songs.

Diana Ross ended with the show with Supremes Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, although it was pretty much all Diana taking the limelight.

Highlights for me were The Temptations and Four Tops as they performed some fantastic hits and the cross over battle was superb.

The Jackson 5 performing for the first time together in 8 years with Jermaine was wonderful and then Michael took center stage and performed his iconic Billie Jean. This was the only non-Motown song performed, but it is the performance that stands out for many.

The only negatives were the pointless inclusion of Adam Ant, Linda Ronstadt and a few others who added nothing to an otherwise momentous event.

I have not liked Daniel Craig's portrayal of Bond. For me he lacks any of the sophistication and humor that I associate with Bond. He also looks wrong, more like a builder than a secret agent.

However I admit that in this movie his acting is first class. I enjoyed elements of this film. Léa Seydoux was good and Ana de Armas outstanding for the short time that she was in the movie. Lashana Lynch didn't work and I hope she is no the next 007, if she is I will not be watching.

Sad that both Bond and Felix Leiter died, is this really the end of Bond movies as we know them?

I didn't think that I was going to like this movie. I am a big Elvis fan and I didn't think that Austin Butler looked much like the king, (he looked more like John Travolta.) However having now watched the movie and seeing him act I was won over. Austin captures the essence of Elvis in a way that others have not. His portrayal, seemed more about Elvis, the man, the personality, rather than an Elvis impersonation.

I loved the way that the movie portrayed the intricacies of Elvis' life and his emotion rather than just being just a step by step biography And it's about time that the influence of black people and their music was highlighted in an Elvis biopic. I have read many biographies about Elvis and he did grow up playing with black kids, attended black churches and spent many hours on Beale Street listening to the music that influenced his style.

Yes there were some inaccuracies, but overall the movie made an effort to explain why Elvis became the man that he was. Tom Hanks was brilliant, as ever, and we saw Tom Parker exposed as the man who used Elvis as a cash machine while for his own selfish reasons depriving the world from seeing the great man perform live.

I found the end very touching and a very sad. Like many great stars, we never fully understand or appreciate someone until they are gone. At the end we get to see the real Elvis singing the song "Unchained Melody" when he was obviously overweight and in poor health. But Elvis still belted out this tune, singing his heart out. It showed the singer's natural talent and even on the verge of death he still had that amazing voice.

So, rather than ending with the singer dying in the bathroom at Graceland, it focuses on what Elvis should be remembered for.

I believe that Baz Luhrmann, Austin Butler and Tom Hanks all deserve Oscars and other awards for this movie.

They must have a template for these movies as there are so many with similar story lines. The acting wasn't bad but it was very predictable. Even the ending fight in the woods has been done a million times.

And that British accent? No one talks like Mary Poppins.