đż56: Glass Onion
This week: SP turns 2! A rundown of the best films featured in SP and a special film fact to tribute a certain someone.
âIs he always this funny, or only on days when he's wanted for murder?â
~ Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 1988
Happy Birthday, SP! đ
Salty Popcorn has officially turned two years old and what a journey it has been! We want to take this opportunity to thank all of our readers and our patrons, your support is appreciated more than you know - without you, SP probably wouldnât have lasted two months.
To celebrate, hereâs a rundown of the best films weâve featured over the past two years, ranked in order of stars given - though we must admit that we look back on all of them so fondly that weâd like to give most of them five stars nowâŠ
2022
Flee (5*)
Boiling Point (4.5*)
Triangle of Sadness (5*)
An honourable mention for Brian and Charles (4*) which is one of the funniest and most heartfelt films weâve seen this year.
2021
Another Round (4.5*)
Sound of Metal (5*)
Minari (5*)
Judas and the Black Messiah (4.5*)
The Last Duel (4.5*)
Have you got a favourite film of 2022 that we missed? Let us know in the comments.
Now for the headlines:
Avatar 2 managed to make $1bn at the box office in just two weeks. Read more.
A judge in the US has ruled that audiences can sue movie studios for false advertising when a trailer is deemed misleading. This follows an ongoing complaint from fans of Ana De Armas, who featured in the trailer for Yesterday but was cut from the actual film - theyâre seeing for $5m. Read more.
A London-based filmmaker, Lorna Tucker, that was homeless for 18 months as a teenager returns to the streets for her upcoming documentary, Someoneâs Daughter, Someoneâs Son, which will be narrated by Colin Firth. Read more.
Salty Popcorn is 100% free, but if you enjoy SP, please consider buying us a cinema ticket for just ÂŁ5 per month - or a bunch of tickets for just ÂŁ30 per year. Thank you!
Upcoming Releases
Oppenheimer
UK: 21 July // USA: 21 July
Cillian Murphy stars as âthe father of the atomic bomb,â J. Robert Oppenheimer, alongside an explosive cast featuring Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt and Rami Malik, directed by Christopher Nolan.
Fact of the week
To celebrate Salty Popcornâs second birthday, this weekâs fact is a tribute to SPâs most dedicated reader and unofficial (and unpaid) sub-editor. For two years, sheâs been helping SP grow by reading, sharing and correcting typos (though sometimes they still slip through!)
Sheâs seen a lot of (mostly good) films that she wouldnât have while putting up with the noises of me either scoffing salty popcorn or complaining about the lack of salty in a mixed box of salt and sweet. So here it is:
There are a lot of tricks employed by the makeup department of a film set and a lot of them involve food. But did you know how they make a ânewborn babyâ look like itâs fresh out of the womb?
Well, itâs usually a mixture of jam and cream cheese spread all over the baby (almost like a scone) just before filming. The process is strictly regulated and there are several flavours of jam banned to safeguard against an allergic reaction.
This may seem like a strange fact to honour a person with, but I think sheâll appreciate the creative use of food - she also loves a good jam and a cute babyâŠ
Review: Glass Onion
Star rating:
3 (out of 5)
Where to watch:Â
USA: Netflix
UK: Netflix
Runtime:
2hr 19m
Director:
Rian Johnson
Blurb:Â
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is back to solve a murder mystery that takes place on the private island of tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) while he hosts a group of his closest friends.
The review (NO spoilers):
Despite having a great metaphorical title for a murder mystery, Glass Onion doesnât have as many layers as you might think. While the campness and the humour hit the spot for a fun film, itâs pretty transparent for a whodunnit.
The best murder mysteries â especially the light-hearted ones â work to surprise and delight the audience as the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. As the plot unravels, the characters you most suspect one moment suddenly appear the most innocent the next. Now Iâm no Sherlock, but I wasnât surprised at all about the âwhoâ, nor too interested in the âhowâ or the âwhyâ.
What also bothers me is that this film has no shortage of unnecessarily intricate details that, to me, seem like an attempt to make the plot feel more complicated than it really is.
Daniel Craig is fine as Benoit Blanc, though his performance lacks the charm he had in the first film, Knives Out, which sets a high bar that Glass Onion doesnât quite reach.
As far as easy-to-watch romps go, Glass Onion is a great film to watch on New Yearâs Day with a box of chocolates and without high expectations, but if youâre looking for a real whodunnit, there are better murder mysteries to be had.
Iâve no doubt weâll see a few more Knives Our Mysteries now that Craig has given up the vodka martinis and the whodunnit genre is making a comeback, but I hope theyâll resemble something closer to the first film.
Scroll down to see whatâs in the next issue.
If you liked Glass OnionâŠ
See How They Run
2022 | UK: Disney+ // USA: AppleTV ($3.99)
If youâre looking for another fun and light-hearted whodunnit that doesnât take itself too seriously, See How They Run could be a great film to watch - and it featured in SP#48.
For a more serious murder mystery, you might look to Alfred Hitchcockâs Rear Window, or for a mystery with a completely different tone, Quentin Tarantinoâs The Hateful Eight.
In the next issue:
White Noise
UK: 30 December // USA: 30 December |Â Watch the Trailer
My favorite newsletter of all time!!
Happy birthday! Nice! Might watch Alfredâs murder mystery. Thanks !