Film 2485 - Disclosure Day

Intro: Not that I was dying to see this film... but when Steven Spielberg has a new one out, you can't really miss it, or what kind of cinema fanatic are you really?!

Film 2485: "Disclosure Day" (2026), Steven Spielberg
Watched: At the movies
Language: English
Watched with: No one
Thoughts: Oh boy.
I wasn't expecting this movie to be groundbreaking or a masterpiece, but I certainly didn't anticipate just how bored I'd be while watching it. I went by myself, so I was very much focused and present, and I definitely struggled to stay awake during some scenes. Especially at the beginning, when no one really knows what's going on, the story takes so long to actually get going that you begin to wonder what the point of it all really is. And, to be fair, that question still stands.
What I mean is that "Disclosure Day" doesn't seem to know what kind of movie it'd like to be, as it combines so many different elements from different genres: thriller, alien invasion, mystery, action, espionage, sci-fi, and... religious?! The mix is at times so random that it's really hard to take the story seriously. I appreciate the effort to go for something different and not just the seen-it-before alien invasion bit, but I'm not sure venturing into religious territory was the right choice (I'm referring to the moment where Emily Blunt's character reads one person's mind and says something along the lines of, "I don't want to be your religion." I legitimately laughed at that scene).
It's not just this, though. The alien aspect was quite disappointing in the end. Especially the big reveal where Blunt and the alien talk... I don't know, it really ruined the ending for me. I thought there was no need to show the alien, story-wise, and the visual effects really don't deliver. The end result just looks cheap and unconvincing. Speaking of visual effects, I also don't think they were very good throughout the whole film. For a movie that cost $115 million to make—and God knows how much to promote—the end result isn't up to par. The animals, especially, don't look believable and, look, nobody went to the cinema expecting this one to deliver a realistic take on possible human-alien contact, but the overall lack of believability takes you out of the story at times.
Last but not least, I think the story is way too overcrowded. Not just with different narrative elements or plot points, but with characters as well. Too many story arcs to complete, too many side stories we don't really care about. Rarely have I seen a character so obviously utilized as a plot tool as the boyfriend, played by Wyatt Russell: remove him from the story and literally nothing changes.
Anyway, I don't want to only shit on this movie, so here's a short list of the elements I appreciated:

• Emily Blunt as a leading lady. I love her. She's clearly talented and can carry a movie on her shoulders with no problem. Her face does look strange, though.
• Steven Spielberg is still a great director. The car chase scene was really good.
• I'm glad to see Josh O'Connor making a splash in Hollywood. He's handsome and so talented, and hopefully he'll stop queerbaiting us in allegedly gay movie romances and either go all in or stop edging us.
• The newsroom setting was interesting, although underdeveloped. I wish they'd explored that a bit more rather than all the government nonsense and the boyfriend crap.

All in all, "Disclosure Day" was unfortunately worse than I expected. Maybe a shorter, less crowded edit of this story would have worked better. And there was no need to show us the aliens: once you materialize on screen the one element your story has asked the audience to imagine, the fantasy is ruined.
Cast: Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell, Elizabeth Marvel, Colman Domingo.
Box Office: $239.8 million
Worth a watch?: For Spielberg fans. It's not awful, but it is a confused story filled with too many elements that weaken the overall message. One of the biggest disappointments of 2026 for me.
Awards: /
Key word: Cardinal.
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Film 2380 - Thunderbolts*

Intro: Not necessarily dying to see the latest Marvel movies, this one seemed good enough. Reviews were good, the cast packed with great actors and it seemed to serve as Marvel's redeeming  first step. True?

Film 2380: "Thunderbolts*" (2025), Jake Schreier
Watched on: At the movies
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh
Thoughts: I thought the first part was quite enjoyable, the tone is fun and entertaining and the characters work together. I have a soft spot for Red Guardian (David Harbour) and Yelena (Florence Pugh) - but who doesn't? - their relationship moves smoothly from the funny bits to the serious ones, the two actors work well together and the chemistry is there.
So, overall, I enjoyed the new Avengers, as they now are trying to re-advertise them once the movie came out (that's why the * in the title).
That said, the moment Bob (Lewis Pullman) turns into the Void I honestly lost part of my interest. I mean, it's good that superheroe movies are portraying elements more grounded to our reality like being depressed, I just thing here they could have done a slightly better job. Being depressed and end up literally erasing (aka killing) everybody it's a bit sloppy, plus the scene in Bob's mind could have been a bit more creaive? Yelena looks for him, she goes through her bits... and then she finds him? And that's it?
I think Pullman does a great job, he's a talented actor and definitely one to watch, so no blame on him, but yeah, I was hoping for something a bit deeper than just being depressed turns into a killing spree.
Anyway, considering the quality on Marvel's work lately, this is definitely a good outing, one that didn't resonate much with audience ("Thunderbolts*" lost money), still a step in the right direction after years of disappointing films.
Cast: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Box Office: $382.4 million
Worth a watch?: Not Marvel's strongest movie, but definitely one of the best they put out recently. Combined with the good reviews gathered by "The Fantastic Four: First Steps", definitely a better year for the company than the recent ones.
"Thunderbolts*" is a fun adventure, the characters work well together and the cast is really good. Overall a good watch. not my favourite villain, but we'll see what they do with him in the future.
Not really sure why they bothered feature Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko, even listed in the credits and poster) when they kill her 10 minutes in.
Awards: /
Key word: Impeachment.
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Film 2248 - Night Swim

Intro: Dopo un film diretto da James Wan ("Aquaman 2"), un film prodotto da James Wan.

Film 2248: "Night Swim" (2024) di Bryce McGuire

Visto: al cinema
Lingua: inglese
Compagnia: Niamh, Marysia

In sintesi: non c'è veramente molto da dire su questo film, sciocco horror con poca immaginazione che manca di qualsivoglia momento di paura.
La storia è delle più banali (famiglia si trasferisce e la casa ha qualcosa che non va), ma non è neanche il vero problema. Il punto qui è che tutta la "mitologia" dietro la piscina maledetta non è spiegata, non si capisce da dove arrivi quest'acqua che garantisce i desideri richiedendo il sacrificio di un'anima, né come o da chi abbia avuto origine la fonte né, se vogliamo, il perché di tutta la faccenda.
Se il senso era concentrarsi su cosa accadrebbe ai malcapidati che nuotano in una piscina del terrore, allora tanto valeva focalizzarsi solo su questo aspetto del racconto. Tutta la dietrologia con cui la trama tenta di spiegare il fenomeno dietro all'idea di base della storia, così come viene formulata nel film, non funziona. Ed è un peccato, perché Kerry Condon è un'attrice bravissima (che qui porta tutta la baracca sulle proprie spalle) e merita progetti migliori.
Cast: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amélie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren, Jodi Long, Nancy Lenehan.
Box Office: $46.6 milioni (ad oggi)
Vale o non vale: Si salva solo Kerry Condon (Wyatt Russell è particolarmente "cane" in questa interpretazione), per il resto "Night Swim" non si guarda.
Premi: /
Parola chiave: Acqua.
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Film 1374 - 22 Jump Street

Avevo cominciato a rivederlo qualche mese fa, senza portare a termine la visione. Così ho pensato, all'occasione giusta, di ricominciare d'accapo e vedere nuovamente questa commedia.

Film 1374: "22 Jump Street" (2014) di Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Visto: dal computer di casa
Lingua: italiano
Compagnia: nessuno
Pensieri: Alla fine mi ha fatto di nuovo divertire. Continuo a considerare la scena tra Jonah Hill e Jillian Bell una delle più esilaranti che il cinema americano abbia partorito di recente nell'ambito della commedia caciarona e, in generale, questo sequel non delude le aspettative nei confronti del primo capitolo (a sua volta tratto dalal serie tv).
L'avventura replica la formula precedente, prendendosene non poco gioco: due ragazzoni belli e fatti arrivano al college, ma sotto copertura, per scoprire chi stia vendendo una droga illegale che fa sballare gli studenti a tal punto da renderli pericolosi per se stessi. L'indagine porterà a qualche colpo di scena e, soprattutto, una serie di situazioni assurde e maledettamente divertenti che, alla fine, divertiranno lo spettatore quel tanto che basta per ricordare con piacere questa pellicola (molto estiva).
Film 638 - 21 Jump Street
Film 765 - 22 Jump Street
Cast: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Peter Stormare, Ice Cube, Wyatt Russell, Amber Stevens West, Jillian Bell, Nick Offerman, Queen Latifah, Patton Oswalt, Craig Roberts, Rob Riggle, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Diplo.
Box Office: $331.3 milioni
Consigli: Prodotto simpatico, divertente, con una buona dose d'azione e due protagonisti davvero ben assortiti. Il risultato finale funziona bene e bisogna dire che "22 Jump Street" è un perfetto sequel, oltre che titolo adatto ad un'occasione di disimpegno e totale relax.
Parola chiave: Tatuaggio.
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